Cyberjaya smart city development accelerated with cashless society push

• MoU inked between Cyberview, MaGIC and Mastercard
• One of the initiatives is to integrate Mastercard’s digital payments service Masterpass

CYBERJAYA has strengthened its offerings as a Smart City with the formalisation of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Cyberview Sdn Bhd, Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC), and Mastercard.

The MoU outlines a fleet of initiatives that will be collaboratively rolled out by its signatories as Cyberjaya looks towards going cashless in line with the Malaysian government’s push to reduce cash transactions.

Some of the initiatives outlined include integrating Mastercard’s digital payments service Masterpass to make everyday transactions for consumers faster, simpler and more secure as well as providing city authorities and urban planners with actionable data-driven insights into the retail industry and to better inform their marketing campaigns for visitors.

These activities are set to fall in line with the government’s Economic Transformation Programme and Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) vision to transform Malaysia into a cashless society.

This MoU adds onto a series of milestones achieved by Cyberjaya in its continued evolution as a Smart City including the deployment of a city-wide long range (LoRa) network that will strengthen its offerings as a Living Lab for the Internet of Things as well as the establishment of its City Innovation Council (CIC); a collaborative platform comprising Cyberview, its partners and stakeholders aimed at providing endorsement, assistance and guidance to start-ups and SMEs seeking to test out prototypes and concepts that could be of value to the city.

“Cyberview has spearheaded the continued development of the city under its Smart City and Living Lab initiatives. We continue to do this by incorporating technology into every facet of the township through collaboration with our many partners, and this is eminent from our push in transforming Cyberjaya into a cashless city by working hand in hand with MaGIC and Mastercard.

“The reason why we’re doing this is because we understand that payments are the heart of a city's economic activity – forming the core of every economic flow including salaries, consumer spending, business procurement, and taxes,” said Cyberview managing director Faris Yahaya.

“By embedding digital payments into our core infrastructure and harnessing the data that electronic payments generate, cities can deliver on their promise to create smarter, more welcoming spaces, and empower their citizens to lead greater, more rewarding lives.”

MaGIC CEO Ashran Ghazi said that “Through the Corporate Entrepreneurship Responsibility (CER) platform, MaGIC will play a key role to facilitate the partnership between players in the corporate sector like Mastercard and local entrepreneurs to design and build smart city infrastructure, services and solutions in Cyberjaya.”

Mastercard country manager for Malaysia and Brunei Perry Ong said, “Through the Economic Transformation Programme, an electronic payments agenda is embedded through a structural reform known as the Payment Card Reform framework where the payment industry is working together in efforts to broaden market access and to dampen cash transactions. It is imperative that we recognise the great control, transparency and efficiency electronic payments offers to society.”

In relation to the Smart City collaboration, Ong added that Mastercard will be providing the horizontal payment construct across all the vertical clusters including urban mobility, lifestyle, finance, health, supply chain and education among others.

This is to ensure an integrated payment ecosystem for an enhanced commerce experience with digital solutions such as Masterpass which enables Malaysians to enjoy simpler, safer and smarter digital payments across any device and channel anywhere - be it online, in app and in-store with contactless.

AllianceDBS Research Sdn Bhd in a report earlier this year projected that the ‘cashless’ system in Malaysia will grow by 15%, five-year compounded annual growth rate (CAGR), as BNM pushes for reform in the country’s payment system.
 
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