With physical over the counter options being cautiously viewed, many Malaysian’s have opted for digital methods like online and mobile as a viable choice to make important payments. Over the 12 months ever since the Covid-19 pandemic, these options have seen exponential growth giving platforms like ewallets rise in its dominance as a must tool for everyday transaction.
Used for paying utilities to shopping at the local grocer, the service is also being used by Muslims for paying their zakat. Maybank is expecting its digital platforms (Maybank2u and MAE) to transact about 200,000 zakat transactions amounting to RM30 million this Ramadhan, reflecting a 30 percent increase from last year. This was also attributed to its recently enhanced online zakat feature on the two digital platforms giving customers a more seamless and hassle-free experience when paying zakat.
Datuk Hamirullah Boorhan, Head, Community Financial Services Malaysia of Maybank said that with the ongoing pandemic, making zakat payment available online and convenient is more important than ever. “During the holy month, we want our customers to be able to fulfil their religious obligation of paying zakat fitrah conveniently and safely, especially in the current environment where movement control is still in place in some parts of the country. ”
As for the new enhancements, the amount of zakat fitrah to be paid will be automatically calculated once customer selects the zakat body, the type of rice they consume and the number of family members making the contribution. Customers will no longer need to painstakingly search up the price of rice as stipulated by each state zakat body as it is readily available in the app; neither do they need to key in their personal details as we have automated this process. The akad for zakat is also displayed at the payment confirmation page, making the online zakat system the most complete one in the country presently.
For now Maybank customers can make zakat payment to all state zakat bodies in Malaysia. For zakat fitrah, currently 11 bodies are able to accept the online payment, namely Kedah, Kelantan, Penang, Melaka, Perak, Perlis, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, Terengganu and Wilayah Persekutuan.
Besides online zakat payment, Maybank expects RM115 million sent via its eDuit Raya service on its MAE app.
