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iPay88 Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian-based leading provider of online payment service solutions in ASEAN, believes that the growth of Malaysian consumers making online purchases is very encouraging. Statistics shows total transactions generated by mobile commerce has grown by 148.9% from 3.7 million in 2015 to 9.3 million in 2016.

Executive director of iPay88, Chan Kok Long says the collective signs in their payment gateway show that even with the turbulent year of 2016, the coming year looks to have better prospects.

“These statistics have proven that mobile commerce growth in 2016 is far outpacing the eCommerece and brick and mortar, whereby savvy retailers are moving to leverage the mCommerce space. This trend is foreseen to continue in 2017”, he added.

With the increasing number of mobile payment users since Apple Pay, SAMSUNG  Pay and Google Pay have addressed security concerns through tokenization in the payment infrastructure, supplemented with biometric security for smartphones, virtual payments are looking to become the next big trend.

2016 saw online banking continue its reign as the preferred payment option when it comes to eCommerce and online shopping. iPay88 recorded online banking transactions of 11.5 million compared to 5.3 credit card transactions for the whole of 2016. The upward trend had started in 2015 where 5.8 million transactions via online banking had been recorded compared to only 3.7 million credit card transactions.

“Rather than a fixed number that can be re-used for multiple transactions, a virtual payment uses a one time number and this protects shoppers from fraud. Virtual payment makes recurring payment easier and safer as actual payment details are never exposed”, he says, giving a heads-up on the market potential trend that is shifting to a virtual payment stream.

“In addition, virtual payment alternatives are also more seamless and provides a better iser experience which in return leads to a better conversion and higher sales”, he added.

Overall, the online shoppers for MarketPlaces grew by 182.84%. Some of the areas which saw the biggest growth included delivery services by 243%, telco services by 81%, transportation services by 67%, food and beverage services by 45% and gifts and merchandise increase by 19%.

“We see this as a growing trend especially the with how the millennial’s have started to accept eCommerce as part of their lifestyle. Since it is so convenient, more items, despite being small daily needs, such as groceries, are being paid online”, he shared.

Chan says that iPay88, which has received numerous awards, including MSC status by the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) in 2007, and also the Merit Award in the Best Financial Application category in Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA), is very positive about the limitless opportunities that the world of eCommerce will bring to Malaysia for 2017.

“Although the size of ASEAN’s internet users and digital buyers are comparable with Japan, it still remains less than 1% of the global eCommerce volume. This only shows that there is a huge opportunity for ASEAN markets to demonstrate accelerated growth, with the right enablers – which we think payment gateway solutions will play an important role in.”

iPay88, an NTT Data Company which was set up in 2006 and headquartered in Kuala Lumpur to be ASEAN’s leader in providing online payment services and payment solutions for merchants with multiple financial institutions as business partners in Malaysia, hopes their sharing of these market trends will help eCommerce merchants and business owners strategize their marketing plans.

“We hope to help eCommerce merchants and business owners strategize better marketing plans to exceed customers’ expectations from online retail”, says Chan to encourage local businesses.

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