iPay88 Attempts at Banking the Underbanked with Virtual Accounts
by Fintech News Malaysia April 2, 2018iPay88 today announces its latest offering known as the ‘Virtual Account’ – a payment solution that is targeted at the country’s ‘underbanked’ communities.
Malaysia has a total population of 31.3 million as of 2017, with about 22.6 million being adult population. However according to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), 8 per cent of this adult population were still ‘underbanked’ – meaning they do not own a bank account or credit card and need to go outside of the banking system to meet their financial needs.
Executive Director of iPay88, Chan Kok Long says that this ‘underbanked’ community makes up the gap in the nation’s aspirations towards a ‘Cashless Society’.
He says, “We cannot talk about achieving a ‘Cashless Society’ when there are still pockets of people who do not even have banking accounts, what more online banking or credit cards to enable online purchases.
How Virtual Account Works
Virtual Account is a simplified online payment application that enables people who do not possess any bank saving account, online banking access or credit card, to still buy online. The minimum that is required, is just an internet connection to place their orders online – at any eCommerce website, merchant or marketplace that they wish to purchase the product or service.
To make the online payment, the customer just needs to select the Virtual Account option at the payment page and receive a 14-digit virtual bank account number. All the customer needs to do is to use the 14-digit virtual bank account number to deposit the cash payment at any bank branch, or at any of the estimated 4,340 ATMs (of any bank) nationwide, to complete the online purchase.
When the online purchase is complete, they just need to wait for the delivery of the items that they just purchased online. iPay88’s Virtual Account solution takes care of everything else – from the backend banking-payment transaction validation, confirmation of the merchant’s bank and ATM receiving the cash deposit from the customer.
Chan further explains that, “Virtual Account Solution is equipped with proven fraud prevention system and monitoring that safeguard all transactions. Shoppers can use it without fear of fraud.”
