Payments and e-commerce in Malaysia

Discover how Malaysians like to shop and pay online

Malaysia

General Information

Population 32.8 m
Population 15 + 25.2 m
Online population 29.2 m
Area 329,847 km²
Currency MYR
GDP 1,823.9 bn $US
GDP per capita 55,639 $US

Card-based payments
Cash-based payments
Bank transfer
Wallets
Other

[{"label":"Card-based payments","value":"31"},{"label":"Cash-based payments","value":"9"},{"label":"Bank transfer","value":"30"},{"label":"Wallets","value":"16"},{"label":"Other","value":"14"}]

Banked population

Malaysia 87%
Asia Pacific 76%
World 67%

Credit card penetration

Malaysia 23%
Asia Pacific 29%
World 19%

Internet penetration

Malaysia 89%
Asia Pacific 61%
World 62%

Smartphone penetration

Malaysia 88%
Asia Pacific 62%
World 70%

Not only are more Malaysians online now – 29.55 m at the beginning of 2022 – but the percentage shopping online has gone up to 81% – the third highest in Southeast Asia – and the connection speed has also increased by 44%.

The Malaysian m-commerce sector is similarly taking off, rising from 4.5 bn $US in 2019 to a projected 8.9 bn $US in 2023. Unsurprising, as smartphones are used by 89% of the population.

96% of Malaysians have adopted digital payments according to the Visa 2022 Consumer Payment Attitudes report.

Future e-commerce trends (2021-2026)

B2C e-commerce ($US billion)

2022 9.2

2023 10.8

2024 12.6

2025 14.5

2026 16.6

E-commerce spending per capita ($US)

2022 277

2023 323

2024 372

2025 424

2026 480

E-commerce spending as % of GDP

2022 2.4%

2023 2.6%

2024 2.8%

2025 3.0%

2026 3.2%

Malaysia

The E-Commerce Market

Top e-commerce segments

Fashion: 31%
Electronics & Media: 28%
Toys, Hobby & DIY: 19%
Furniture & Appliances: 13%
Food & Personal Care: 10%

Cross-border e-commerce

Cross-border proportion of total e-commerce – 52%
Value of cross-border e-commerce – 4.0 bn $US
Online shoppers who have shopped cross-border – 54%

Top 3 cross-border shopping origin markets

China: 61%
Singapore: 9%
Japan: 5%

B2C e-commerce growth 20->21

Malaysia 23.8%

E-commerce % of total retail

Malaysia 1%
Asia Pacific 29%
World 20%

E-commerce completed on a mobile device

Malaysia 56%
Asia Pacific 65%
World 53%

The Credit Card Split

Visa
Mastercard
American Express
Other

[{"label":"Visa","value":"58"},{"label":"Mastercard","value":"39"},{"label":"American Express","value":"2"},{"label":"Other","value":"1"}]

E-commerce market size 7.6 bn $US
E-commerce spending per capita 234 $US
E-commerce spending as % of GDP 2.1%

_{The information on our Insights pages has been compiled by us in cooperation with Datamatics and Wright & Brown. The data shown is partially owned by us and partially owned by GlobalData. © 2021 by PPRO Financial Ltd. No data and information can be used for any further publication without the explicit approval of PPRO.}

Malaysia

Local Payment Methods

BitPay

Type Cryptocurrency Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Boost

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific Market relevance High FPX Online Banking

Type Bank transfer Regions Asia Pacific GrabPay

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific Hyperwallet

Type Bank transfer, Gift card, Prepaid voucher Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High PayPal

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Paysera

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Skrill

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High 123