THE Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP) and Boost Business signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today to implement a ‘Digital Biz’ programme.
MBSP mayor Datuk Rozali Mohamud said the programme would not only benefit government agencies but also over 46,000 traders from all types of businesses in Seberang Perai.
“We must be prepared for the recovery of Covid-19; we cannot wait for its recovery and then prepare.
“This programme is suitable during this Covid-19 pandemic when cashless transactions are a new norm whether for old or new businesses.
“It’s a transformation of our physical approach and will bring benefits to 46,549 traders of all types of businesses here, like applying for licence online.
“Even before this, the Boost app already has space for payment of rental, compound and assessment tax. We want to move forward. They have 15,000 regular subscribers,” Rozali said in his speech at the signing ceremony.
Boost Business chief executive officer Eric Chong Tiong Beng thanked MBSP for entrusting them to be a strategic partner, saying the MoU signing marked an expansion of their working relationship with MPSP which began in November last year.
“MBSP is known as a key driver of various cashless initiatives and digital initiatives in the city. The increasing number of people using Boost e-Wallet payment is a good testament to how the people of Seberang Perai are embracing digital lifestyle.
“We want to continue to strengthen that success. Other than providing cashless e-payment to Seberang Perai, what we want to do is to also help the Seberang Perai traders to be able to sustain their business during the pandemic or any future lockdown.
“During the first lockdown, we quickly realised that the businesses, especially the micro SMEs, need a lot of help because they are the under-served. And that sits very nicely with Boost’s mission which is to serve the under-served and the unserved, especially the SMEs,” Chong said in his speech.
He added that his company has offered SMEs and other businesses micro loans, starting as low as RM1,000 to as high as RM100,000.
On top of that, Boost, he said, also offered micro insurance to protect the business from income loss.
He added that they had launched the E-go commerce programme that has a zero cost to their merchants, which also allows their merchants access to their 9.3 million customers through their digital market place.
“We are fully committed to building a robust ecosystem. We have a few exciting products coming in the next month or so,” Chong said.
State Local Government, Housing, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh, who witnessed the signing ceremony between Rozali and Chong, said the programme is in line with the Penang2030 vision for a ‘Family Focused, Green and Smart State that Inspires the Nation’.
“Boost is not new in Penang. In fact, the first market that we promoted cashless transaction in Taman Tun Sardon in Penang island some two years ago was also participated by Boost amongst other players in the field.
“Until now, we have succeeded in getting a total of 23 government agencies to use at least one e-payment service for the public.
“Almost 66% of their collections were through electronic or cashless transactions, amounting to RM763.9 million. This is from Jan 1 to June 30 this year with 1.5 million transactions.
“The state also aims to achieve 100 smart initiatives in 2021 and has reached 76 today,” Jagdeep said in his speech.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Muhamad Amir Irsyad Omar