MyPay is online digital payment platform that consolidates payment information from different government agencies in one platform. Source: Shutterstock
MyPay goes the extra mile to carve a niche for itself in Malaysia
By James Sivalingam | 26 August, 2019
DIGITAL PAYMENT platforms and e-wallets are finally taking off in Malaysia, as many of consumers within the country become increasingly more comfortable with the concept.
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As of May this year, the country's central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia has issued licenses to 42 e-wallet operators, highlighting the market potential for the service, as well as the competition within the space.
Thus, it is critical for payment platforms in the country to differentiate themselves and carve out a niche for themselves. MyPay, one of the e-wallet companies, is doing exactly this — distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack.
"Our unique selling proposition is that we present the information first, before giving you the payment options," CEO of MyPay Nick Liew told Tech Wire Asia at their recent launch.
Most of the payment platforms, banking websites, and mobile apps allow consumers to make payments but do not show them the amount owed, especially when it comes to utility bills, government fees, taxes, and fines, explained Liew.
MyPay, on the other hand, consolidates all the payment details from different government agencies in a single platform, with a single login, and seamlessly provides options to pay the dues.
To be able to provide this billing information to customers, MyPay was developed using structured language and was connected to all the systems in the government.
"The information is then pulled by API. When we ping the government agencies for details, the information is retrieved straight from their database," said Joshua Smith, CTO of MyPay.
By doing so, MyPay is able to produce the latest, most updated information and alerts the users of any unpaid dues, potentially avoiding penalties and other fines.
"Reminders are sent to users as soon as we get the data from the agencies' database. We run synchronization with their databases at frequent intervals," Smith said.
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A customer-focused digital payment platform
Besides solving the information void, which is one of the major pain points that MyPay addresses, the platform is also designed to deliver enhanced customer experience.
"We have built a product and optimized the UI/UX so that transactions could be completed with very little keystrokes as possible, and worked to remove the frictions usually seen in these types of apps.
"Further, we also have dedicated help desks to help users complete their transaction with the different agencies they are dealing with," said Liew.
Both Liew and Smith acknowledge that the platform deals with a lot of sensitive user information, and thus, security is absolutely paramount for the company.
The platform deploys the "one-to-one-to-one" security measure — which is a three-step layer, unique key verification process. Users are required to enter their government-issued ID number, phone number, and e-mail, which are then tied together and used to verify one another.
This process ensures that each individual is only able to create one MyPay account without any duplication so that identity thefts and fraud can be avoided.
Beyond that, the platform also issues temporary access codes (TAC) to confirm the owner of the phone number.
"We employ a lot of different techniques to ensure that we are secured to the highest edge. We have everything from SSL, industry-standard hashing and encryption, partitioning databases so that even if we're penetrated, the risk would be minimal," Smith said.
MyPay is a mobile-optimized low-latency webpage that runs on browsers. According to Liew and Smith, MyPay decided to pursue the Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) route so that everyone can benefit from the platform.
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"Many in the rural parts of Malaysia does not have the privilege to own expensive phones, such those in the cities. Downloading a new app means deleting another app or photos for them.
"This way more people can access and use the service," explained Smith.
MyPay consumes very little data with an average of 20KB for each session. Loading time across all databases only take an average of 15 seconds.
About 25 APIs are used at the moment, with 1,151 more in the pipeline — indicating that the company aims to get more out of the niche it has identified, creating a better, more useful UX in the process.
By James Sivalingam
@jsivali
James Sivalingam | @jsivali
James Sivalingam is a tech writer at Tech Wire Asia. He explores emerging technology trends that help businesses; both big and small to unlock their true potential in the digital world.