KUCHING: Malaysia Airports yesterday introduced a cashless initiative for its passengers at Kuching International Airport (KIA) in collaboration with Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (Digi) through its e-wallet app vcash, which was launched by Chief Minister, Datuk Patinggi (Dr) Abang Johari Tun Openg.
According to Malaysia Airline Holding Berhad (MAHB) Managing Director, Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, the launching of the digitalisation initiative would position KIA as the leader among all airports in Malaysia.
“KIA will become the first truly cashless airport in Malaysia to offer multiple digital payment option.
“Over the years, we have seen the increase in number of direct international routes at our regional international airports and they serve as important points in our connectivity network.
“Strategic decisions made by the Sarawak government have made KIA an easy choice for us to launch this cashless airport initiative. We have already collaborated with Alipay to provide cashless convenience to our passengers from China at all our international airports.
“We wish to embrace the concept of cashless airport by extending this further through various collaboration with other mobile payment platform providers so as to offer this facility to a larger passenger base,” he said.
He also noted that Johari’s vision on the Sarawak Digital Economy implementation was certainly in tandem with the type of improvements that they wished to implement in airports under their management.
“In this instance, we have collaborated with Digi Telecommunications to provide the people of Sarawak and its visitors with cashless convenience through its e-wallet app vcash.
“Thus far, a total of 70 percent or 27 out of 39 retailers at KIA have come on board to offer cashless convenience at the airport and with the addition of Sarawak Pay, and we hope to see this number to climb up to 100 percent of retailers participating in cashless payments,” Badlisham stressed.
vcash is a mobile payment application that offers Malaysians an easy, more convenient way to pay, send, request and store money in their smartphones.
Featuring an enhanced layer of security in making payments, vcash eliminates the need for small notes and queuing at ATM, vcash is available across all telco operators and can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store or Apple App store.
Later in a press conference, the Chief Minister stated the state government is willing to work together with MAHB to upgrade the KIA with a users-friendly concept and also expanding the usage of the airport existing space.
“The state government is willing to work together (if there is a need) so that KIA will become an airport with international standards.
“We (state government) have formed a state airport committee led by Deputy Chief Minister, Tan Sri Datuk Amar James Jemut Masing to monitor the situation in KIA,” he revealed.
Johari also noted that with the distance of the pathway in KIA, there is a need to provide a ‘walkavator’ to ease the foot traffic in the airport.
Earlier in his keynote address, Johari commended the effort of MAHB for implementing the Cashless Airport initiatives.
“This transaction initiative is in line with the state government’s vision towards the digital economy approach,” he said, adding at the same time, Digi had also equipped KIA with high speed Wifi connection.
At the event, Johari also officially opened the Makan Makan Food Court, which boasts local favourites such as Mee Kolok and Laksa Sarawak.
Also present were Deputy Chief Minister, Tan Sri Datuk Amar James Jemut Masing, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports, Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Integriti and Ombudsman) and MAHB Ambassador, Datuk Haji Talib Zulpilip, Malaysia Airports Chairman, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Syed Anwar Jamalullail and DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd Chief Marketing Officer, Loh Keh Jiat.
