The Digital Payment Divide

What happens when cashless becomes the default?

Malaysia’s shift towards digital payments is easy to see.

A meal can be paid for with a QR code. A train fare can be settled with a contactless card. A small merchant can receive payment without ever handling cash.

Bank Negara Malaysia reported that e-payment transactions reached 18.4 billion in 2025, up 25 per cent from the previous year. DuitNow QR alone recorded three billion transactions, with almost three million registered touchpoints nationwide. (Bank Negara Malaysia)

That progress brings real benefits. Payments can be faster, easier to track and more convenient for customers and businesses.

But there is another question worth asking.

What happens to the people who are not moving at the same speed?

A cashless economy should not simply replace one barrier with another.

Digital access is high, but it is not universal

Malaysia is highly connected. The Department of Statistics Malaysia reported that 98.3 per cent of individuals used the internet in 2025. (Department of Statistics Malaysia)

Look a little closer, however, and differences remain. Household internet access reached 99.0 per cent in urban areas compared with 90.7 per cent in rural areas. (Department of Statistics Malaysia)

That is still strong coverage, but the gap matters when everyday services increasingly assume that everyone can download an app, receive an authentication request or maintain a reliable connection.

Access also goes beyond connectivity.

Bank Negara Malaysia recognises that some people remain financially underserved because of limited digital literacy, capability or connectivity. It also notes that some senior citizens continue to prefer face-to-face banking, while rural communities may still depend on physical financial access points. (Bank Negara Malaysia)

The digital payment divide is therefore not simply about who owns a phone.

It is also about confidence, familiarity and access to the right financial services.

Convenience depends on who is paying

A QR-only checkout may feel effortless to someone who uses mobile banking every day.

For someone with an older device, unreliable connectivity or little confidence navigating apps, the same experience can become a barrier.

Bank Negara Malaysia has already acknowledged this kind of exclusion risk. As stronger authentication methods replace SMS-based one-time passwords for many online card payments, SMS OTP remains available as a fallback for a limited group of users who depend on basic or older devices. (Bank Negara Malaysia)

There is a useful principle here for the wider payment industry.

Progress does not always require removing yesterday’s option immediately. Sometimes the more inclusive approach is to introduce better technology while keeping sensible alternatives available.

Tourists can face the divide too

Visitors can be highly digitally literate and still struggle to pay.

A tourist arriving in Malaysia may have a smartphone, bank account and preferred payment app, but not the local wallet expected at the checkout.

Interoperability can help.

PayNet’s cross-border DuitNow QR connections allow travellers from markets including Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Cambodia and South Korea to use supported home-country banking or wallet apps at participating Malaysian merchants. PayNet has also announced a connection with India’s UPI ecosystem. (PayNet)

The important idea is familiarity.

Instead of asking every visitor to join a new payment ecosystem, the ecosystem can increasingly meet customers where they already are.

Choice is part of inclusion

A more inclusive payment environment does not mean every merchant needs every payment method.

It does mean recognising the value of choice.

Cards remain important even as QR grows. Bank Negara Malaysia recorded two billion contactless card transactions in 2025, an increase of 20.3 per cent from 2024. (Bank Negara Malaysia)

The customer who cannot use one wallet may still have a debit card. Someone uncomfortable with an app may prefer to tap. A visitor may have access to a familiar cross-border payment method.

And in some situations, cash may still serve people who cannot or do not want to rely entirely on digital channels.

Inclusion can be as simple as not forcing everyone through the same door.

Where AmpersandPay and CoherentPlus fit

Closing the digital payment divide is not the responsibility of one organisation. Banks, regulators, merchants, payment providers and technology companies all influence how accessible the ecosystem becomes.

For AmpersandPay, that can mean helping merchants provide practical payment choices instead of relying on a single channel. Supporting card acceptance, QR, online payments and other payment methods can give businesses more ways to serve different customers. Clear onboarding, understandable transaction information and accessible merchant support matter too, because inclusion applies to businesses adopting digital payments as well as the consumers using them.

For CoherentPlus, the challenge sits closer to the physical point of interaction.

Payment infrastructure across transit, parking, EV charging, vending and other unattended environments needs to work for occasional users as well as experienced ones. Familiar interfaces, reliable contactless acceptance and systems capable of connecting different payment environments can reduce how much a customer needs to understand before completing a transaction.

Digital progress should create more ways to participate

Malaysia’s payment landscape is moving quickly, and that is something worth celebrating.

The challenge is ensuring speed does not become the only measure of progress.

A payment experience that works perfectly for a digitally confident urban customer may still be difficult for an older user, a rural household, someone without access to a particular financial service or a visitor unfamiliar with local payment habits.

The strongest payment ecosystems will not force everyone to behave the same way.

They will use technology to give more people a practical way in.

The goal should not simply be a cashless society, but a society where paying is easy for everyone.