KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara has called for collaboration between the Malaysian Electronic Clearing Corporation Sdn Bhd (MyClear) and Malaysian Electronic Payment System (MEPS) to explore ways to achieve greater payment efficiency.

Deputy governor Datuk Muhammad Ibrahim said a successful payment system was often dependent on the network of payment systems reaching an optimum size, thus enabling its participants to build critical mass and achieve economies of scale.

“However, building such system and expanding it can be costly to only one market player, hence the industry should pool their resources to develop and share infrastructure costs,” he said at the launch of JomPAY, a shared infrastructure platform to significantly expand the bill collection coverage and reach for businesses.

Muhammad said the use of cash and cheques remained prevalent in Malaysia. However, recent measures such as the pricing reform framework in May 2013 have shown tangible results in terms of promoting the use of Interbank Giro (IBG).

“Last year, cheque usage declined at a faster rate of 10% from 3% in 2013, while the number of IBG transactions increased 36% in 2014 from 19% in 2013,” he said.

He said that basic payment infrastructure should not be used as a competitive tool but as a means to reduce cost, promote inter-operability and support an enlarged network.

“Such collaborative industry effort in infrastructure sharing would allow the industry to compete directly on product offerings and quality of services provided, thus providing better value to both consumers and merchants.

“Both consumers and businesses should capitalise on the benefits and opportunities derived from the adoption of e-payments to enhance competitiveness in this rapidly evolving world,” he said. — Bernama


Source : The Star Online / 10 April 2015