Back at Budget 2020, the government announced that eligible Malaysians will receive RM30 worth of credit to an unspecified ewallet service. Well, we now know which are chosen for the e-Tunai Rakyat initiative, and there are three of them: Touch ‘n Go eWallet, Boost, and GrabPay.
In a press release prepared by Khazanah Nasional, these ewallet services were chosen based on the fulfillment of four criteria. Firstly, they have to boast a large number of users to ensure that the e-Tunai Rakyat initiative “has a broad reach among eligible Malaysians.”
Secondly, these ewallet services are also required to have large merchant networks for traders to take advantage of the incentive spending. Of course, consumers can also use the respective ewallet services at a wide number of retailers; the key is to not be limited by the availability of the service.
The third criterion is for the ewallet services to have “the ability to handle a large number of transactions in a short period of time.” Evidently, all three ewallet services chosen for this initiative are more than capable at fulfilling this requirement.
Last but certainly not least is for the selected ewallet services to have already invested “significantly in their respective services in Malaysia.”
In order to make this initiative possible, the government is allocating up to RM450 million to Khazanah Nasional to implement it. The e-Tunai Rakyat is expected to benefit up to 15 million Malaysians; that’s quite a significant number.
Unfortunately, the exact mechanism for the “one-time RM30 digital stimulus” has not been revealed yet, though we expect TNG, Boost, and GrabPay to announce more details as we approach closer to the 15 January 2020 commencement date. The whole initiative will run for two months, ending on 14 March 2020.
So how do you know if you’re eligible for the RM30 credit? Well, as long as you are above 18 years of age, and your annual income is less than RM100,000, you will be able to receive the RM30 credit to your TNG, Boost, or GrabPay account.
Naturally, you’ll have to first verify your identity on either one of these ewallet services to be eligible for the RM30 credit. For example, Touch ‘n Go eWallet users would need to take a snapshot of their identification card (IC) – along with a selfie – and fill in their personal details.
Do note that the RM30 credit given for the e-Tunai Rakyat initiative is only valid until 14 March 2020 regardless of which ewallet service you choose. Any balance left after that date will “expire and cannot be used again,” according to TNG.