Touch ‘n Go has teamed up with Visa (NYSE: V) in order to create a prepaid card solution that is tied to its digital wallet and is expected to be available to clients next year.
Touch ‘n Go Sdn Bhd (TNGSB) was incorporated in October 1996 and it launched its services in March 1997 at the Metramac Highway and PLUS Expressways. It offers a mode of payment “via a prepaid e-payment card called the Touch ‘n Go card.”
The Touch ‘n Go card offers users with “a means to perform cashless low value transactions which is simple and convenient,” the company explains while noting that it “discards the need to carry and search for loose change when making payments.”
TNGSB holds the intellectual property rights to the Touch ‘n Go system, which is “locally developed according to Mifare standard, the industry standard for contactless smartcards.” This enables the firm to “improve the system independently with required modifications, enhancements and upgrades,” the company notes.
The Touch ‘n Go-Visa Prepaid Card will enable the digital wallet to provide additional cash-out options with last-mile withdrawals at Visa-supported ATMs locally and internationally.
The payments card aims to complement Touch ‘n Go digit wallet’s network of QR merchants operating in Malaysia with Visa’s vast network of 70 million+ merchant locations internationally.
Touch ‘n Go digital wallet will also be joining Visa’s Fintech Fast Track Program, enabling it to directly access the payment company’s international network of partners and affiliates.
Effendy Shahul Hamid, Group CEO, Touch ‘n Go Group, stated:
“This strategic collaboration between Touch ‘n Go and Visa will take the work between our companies to the next stage. Both brands are customer focussed, and with Visa, we expect to continue to strongly deliver a variety of value- added services to our eWallet users,”
Ng Kong Boon, Visa Country Manager for Malaysia, remarked:
“As the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to accelerate the transition of our country towards a fully cashless society by 2025, we are pleased to partner Touch ‘n Go to enable more consumers to adopt digital payments through the issuance of a Visa card. Through this partnership, we also look forward to jointly launching a varied set of financial service offerings with Touch ‘n Go for the unbanked and underserved segments in Malaysia, leveraging the global accessibility of Visa’s network partners.”