Merchantrade gets e-KYC nod from BNM for money changing

• Aims to disrupt US$19 bil money changing market
• Merchantrade Money wallet set to triple growth trajectory, currently at US$167mil

Merchantrade Asia Sdn Bhd (Merchantrade), Malaysia's leading money transfer, retail and foreign currency exchange company, has received Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) approval to introduce the Electronic Know Your Customer (e-KYC) processing for money changing.

The e-KYC online registration will take less than five minutes to complete, giving customers the convenience to access the multi-currency exchange platform without the need to physically be present at a counter. This makes it a convenient and seamless experience when signing up for a Merchantrade Money multi-currency wallet.

Once the short registration process is completed, customers will automatically have access to the 24 hour live digital currency exchange platform on the Merchantrade Money multi-currency wallet which features 20 currencies including US Dollar, Singapore Dollar, British Pound, Australian Dollar, Indonesian Rupee, Euro, Thai Baht, Yen, Saudi Riyal, China Renminbi, Hong Kong Dollar, South Korean Won and Indian Rupee directly in their wallet.

This platform allows customers to lock in the cheapest rates and start utilising the card overseas, and if they have a balance of foreign currency, they can sell the currencies back in the app at any time. This action is similar to money exchange done over the counter, in which one may buy or sell back unused currencies. The limit of this wallet is US$2,391 (RM10,000).

Customers will then receive their personalised Merchantrade Money wallet with a card powered by VISA delivered within 5-7 working days. This card is accepted at 46 million VISA merchants worldwide.
"The e-KYC for money changing is another big step in our efforts towards digitalisation of our services from cash to cashless as well as our commitment to provide convenience in the digital space for our customers,” said Managing Director and founder of Merchantrade Asia, Ramasamy K Veeran. “Money changing is an US$19.1 billion (RM80 billion) industry, and we aim to disrupt it,” he adds.

Merchantrade Money is currently popular amongst travellers and parents who have children studying abroad where card to card transfer is found to be the most useful feature.

Other features include top-ups by online banking, online shopping in foreign currencies, international remittance, etc. Retail payments on the card can be made in foreign currencies from the locked-in rates and so much more. Customers will also be able to download the Merchantrade Money app via Apple iOS App store or Android Play store.

Merchantrade claims that its Merchantrade Money wallet, launched a year ago, is experiencing strong growth in registration and is on track to triple its growth trajectory by end 2020. It is currently seeing more than US$167.4 million (RM700 million) in top-ups.