Mydin is stretching its shopping hours this weekend, keeping 50 outlets open until 1am to cope with the rush of Malaysians redeeming their Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) aid.
Free Malaysia Today reported that from 5 to 7 September the branches will open from 7am to 1am, giving shoppers 18 hours each day.
The move comes as demand spikes from the one-off RM100 SARA credit, which has been credited into the MyKad of over 22 million Malaysians aged 18 and above.
The credit, announced by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in July, can be used at more than 7,300 retail outlets until 31 December.
According to the finance ministry, spending under the programme surged in its first days.
Within the first two days alone, recipients spent RM110 million, with more than 900,000 Malaysians using RM60 million of credits on the second day.
The rush caused congestion at major hypermarkets, where abandoned trolleys and long queues were reported.
MyKasih, which operates the system, responded by expanding its capacity and deploying staff to support merchants on-site.
By 3 September, spending had risen to RM117.1 million in a single day from RM76.8 million the day before, with the number of recipients increasing from 1.1 million to 1.8 million.
The finance ministry said transaction success rates also improved to 99.7% from 95% after system upgrades.
Since the rollout on 31 August, more than 4.8 million Malaysians have used their credits, with total spending surpassing RM312.6 million nationwide.
Earlier glitches in the MyKasih system, which handles the SARA transactions, had caused delays at retailers such as Mydin, Lotus’s, Giant and HeroMart.
To avoid further disruption, the finance ministry boosted the system’s processing power threefold to 15,000 transactions per minute.
Mydin has also strengthened its in-store measures. At its Subang Jaya outlet, 16 counters equipped with MyKad scanners were opened and additional staff deployed to reduce waiting times.
The RM100 SARA aid is part of the government’s wider initiative to ease the cost of living, ensuring households have access to essential goods.
Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Malaysia, based on image by egraphic85 via Freepik
