Merchantrade Asia nabs Fintech - Financial Services Award at Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards

With its non-bank prepaid card, customers can store pre-loaded Malaysian Ringgit and digitally convert into 20 currencies.

Malaysia's leading money transfer, retail and foreign currency exchange company Merchantrade Asia recently took home the Fintech - Financial Services trophy at the recently concluded Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards.

The inaugural awards event honours enterprises that take risks and lead the charge in developing groundbreaking projects, digital services, reimagined strategies, and technological initiatives. Winners were judged on the basis of uniqueness and innovation, effectiveness and impact, and dynamism.

In January 2018, Merchantrade Money made its debut as a full-fledged digital wallet in collaboration with global payments technology partner VISA. It is the first Non-bank Multi-currency Prepaid card in Malaysia with a wallet size of MYR10,000, holding up to 20 currencies at a time.

Cindy Loo (Executive Vice President – Payments) said that Merchantrade Money offers a valuable proposition to travelers, students studying abroad, online shoppers and parents with children studying abroad.

For those traveling, the card allows customers to store pre-loaded Malaysian Ringgit and digitally convert into 20 currencies for payments.

The multi-currency feature is a secure alternative to carrying foreign currencies, and customers have the flexibility to spend overseas and utilise currencies based on locked-in rates.

“I’m able to manage my money and spending on the go. Plus access to my wallet and other services anytime, anywhere. Everything is so convenient with just a few clicks away and it’s safe and secure,” a social media influencer commented.

Cindy added that the feature also allows maximisation of value as the exchange rates to convert the Ringgit are much better than the exchange rates for conversion into physical foreign currency notes. This means customers do not feel the burden of high mark-ups charged by payment companies when spending overseas.

Effectively, customers are able to realise some savings on overseas spending using digital currencies versus using their credit card for overseas purchases, she added.

Merchantrade Money has also became popular with the professionals especially parents with children studying or living overseas. With just a single click parents are able to do an instant card-to-card transfer at zero cost – convenient and cost-efficient to their children.

Currently, Merchantrade Money is accepted at over 46 million VISA merchants worldwide. Customers can top up and withdraw via online banking, as well as manage security features via the app - block and change PIN/passcode.

Aside from being available in 6 languages and having a user-friendly interface, the company said that customers can look forward to more innovative financial products such as insurance through the app in the near future.

Since its launch in January last year, Merchantrade Money still leads the race and gained massive growth in registration and is showing signs to triple its current growth trajectory, which is more than RM700 million in top-ups.

Watch the interview below to know more about their winning projects:

The Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards, presented by Singapore Business Review, was held on 3 December 2019 at Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

This year's nominations were judged by a panel consisting of Alvin SH Gan, Executive Director, Partner, and Head of IT Enabled Transformation (ITeT) at KPMG Malaysia; Yoon Hoong Hoh, Partner, ASEAN Digital Assurance Leader, and Head of Diversified, Technology and Communications Group at Ernst & Young; Justin Ong, Partner and FSI Financial and Regulatory Risk Leader at Deloitte Asia Pacific; Hari Iyerm, Executive Director of Advisory at BDO Kuala Lumpur.

If you would like to join the 2020 awards and be acclaimed for your company’s exceptional technology innovations, please email [email protected]