KUALA LUMPUR: ATX Fintech Holding Sdn Bhd has partnered with Mastercard Inc to launch an electronic billing and payment tool called Mastercard Bill Pay in Malaysia, marking the facility’s debut in the Asia-Pacific.
The collaboration enables Malaysian consumers to view and consolidate bills from multiple billers on ATX’s digital wallet Gopay or access it via its web-based platform Payhub2u.
ATX founder and CEO Sashi Kumar said the bill management tool addresses the existing bill presentment and payment experience problems which tend to be cumbersome where consumers need to remember multiple login credentials to access each of their biller’s websites or apps to view, retrieve, and pay individual statements.
“With Mastercard Bill Pay, customers can make bill payments through one app with varying options such as linking their bank accounts and saving their card credentials. Consumers will also have access to features such as real-time reminders on unpaid bills so they can keep better track of statements and payment due dates,” he said during the press conference after the launch today.
The bill management tool will also soon launch new features such as payment scheduling, e-bill viewing, bill analytic dashboards in the Gopay app, and payment instalment options.
“Mastercard Bill Pay provides efficiency, transparency, speed and accessibility for consumers by providing multiple payment options and real-time communications. In addition, the connections between payer institutions, billers and biller service providers offer a secure, trusted environment within the online and mobile banking experience,” said Sashi.
ATX monetises Mastercard Bill Pay via commissions, whereby the more bills it collects means more commissions for the company. At the moment, it has integrated 13 billers and is keen to expand its network through more partnerships in the coming months to provide more choice and convenience for consumers.
Meanwhile, Mastercard country manager, Malaysia and Brunei, Beena Pothen said the merchants would pay the commission because it is convenient and cost-saving as they do not have to keep calling the consumers when payments are not made.
“Rather than the bill presentment options, the collection part becomes a lot easier for the merchants. So the merchants are willing to pay a small fee for the convenience that they would get,” she explained.
Beena said that over US$25 billion (RM113 billion) in bill payment volumes across one billion bills are paid annually in Malaysia but only 50% are digitised which presents the opportunity for this collaboration.
“More people are using e-payments services for bills as accelerated by the pandemic. Solutions such as Mastercard Bill Pay make bill payments simpler, more seamless and secure,” she added.
The Gopay app is now available for download on Android Play Store and will be ready on the Apple App Store by mid-February.
