e-Tunai Rakyat on track to launch in January 2020

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 19 – The implementation of the e-Tunai Rakyat initiative which was announced by in Budget 2020 is on track for launch in January 2020, says Minister of Finance, Lim Guan Eng in a statement today.

The RM450 million one-off digital stimulus announced by the Ministry of Finance under Budget 2020 aims to accelerate the use and adoption of e-wallets and digital payments among Malaysian consumers and merchants, especially small enterprises and retail businesses.

According to Lim, Khazanah Nasional Berhad (Khazanah) has been appointed to facilitate and coordinate the rollout of the e-Tunai Rakyat initiative, which involves close collaboration with various parties including Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara (JPN) and Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri (LHDN).

“The overall implementation work facilitated by Khazanah is a comprehensive effort to ensure that the e-Tunai Rakyat initiative is successfully delivered within the given time-frame that provides a satisfactory and secure user experience.

“The implementation covers multiple areas such as establishing the necessary mechanisms, processes and procedures for the initiative,’ said Lim.

Khazanah to bring on board selected e-wallet service providers

He also stated that Khazanah will be bringing on board selected e-wallet service providers that together provide a ready platform of a large number of active users and a broad merchant network for the e-Tunai Rakyat initiative to leverage on.

“Khazanah will announce the e-wallet service providers which have been selected for the initiative, based on established criteria to facilitate a quick, effective and successful rollout by January 2020.” said Lim further.

Through e-Tunai Rakyat, Malaysians 18 years of age and above and earning less than RM100,000 annually are eligible to receive RM30 each that can be spent on goods and services available through the  participating e-wallet service providers of their choice.

In addition, the e-wallet service providers also plan to provide additional incentives to further encourage users over the two month period of the initiative.

More information on how eligible Malaysians can apply for the RM30 and the terms and conditions of its use will be provided by Khazanah and the participating e-wallet service providers soon.

–NMT