Homegrown e-wallet Boost recorded an 85% increase in user spending at its merchants in the micro and SME (MSME) business segments in July 2020 compared to April during the MCO. 

The Boost Payment Link, a contactless payment solution developed for MSME merchants introduced at the start of the MCO has also seen an increase in transactions by 21 times to-date. 

Boost’s total monthly gross transaction value (GTV) saw a 70% increase after the MCO period. Boost currently has 8.5 million users.

“While MSMEs have been hailed as the backbone of the economy, it takes consumer spending to spur economic recovery. Collectively, Malaysian businesses and consumers have the power to impact the economy positively and Malaysians understand this. 

“According to our data, Boost merchants from the MSME business segment performed better at maintaining earnings during the downturn compared to larger enterprises.  

“This shows that Malaysians are aware of the impact of their purchasing power and naturally shifted towards supporting MSMEs by shopping and dining locally, and still continue to do so,” its CEO Mohd Khairil Abdullah said. 

Khairil added that, in the CMCO period, where business activity was partially opened, total user spend with Boost continued to pick back up to pre-MCO levels, even higher than the spending during the e-Tunai Rakyat period.

During this time, many homegrown businesses, including MSMEs in the F&B, services and retail sector, took the opportunity to digitally transform their businesses for long term resilience.

The support for MSMEs continues to grow as they journey towards digitisation by adopting e-wallets like Boost, as a safe, convenient and seamless payment method.