KUCHING, Dec 2: Sarawak’s home-grown application SPay Global, previously known as Sarawak Pay, has recorded total transactions of 66.7 million and worth over RM2.8 billion since its launch back in 2017 up to Nov 27 this year.
The platform has also registered a total of 657,824 users with 86,154 merchants statewide for the same corresponding period.
Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) acting general manager Irtidzar Razali said the statistics had proved that the application has grown by leaps and bounds.
“It (SPay Global) has been collaborating with Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) to provide online transaction services to the rural people through the appointed bank’s agents.
“The SPay Global users in the rural area who have no access to any financial institution can receive and send money to their families, friends and business partners via e-wallet through any of the 236 BSN bank’s agents in Sarawak especially during the lockdowns, when the Movement Control Order (MCO) was enforced,” he said during SMA Media Night held at Commons Café at the Old Courthouse here earlier tonight.
The SPay Global was part of the efforts by the Sarawak government through SMA to empower its digital economy agenda so that Sarawak can achieve the status of a developed region with high income economy by 2030.
Irtidzar further said that SMA is very determined to ensure that Sarawak will have high speed Internet connection despite facing a monumental task in view of the State’s vast landmass, rugged terrain and challenging topography.
“So, the issue regarding 4G and 5G is something which we have planned.
“Before we can migrate to 5G, we have to perfect 4G first, as it is used for the masses, whereas 5G is for the industries such as artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT). But both of these have to be done simultaneously,” he added.
Among the many various initiatives undertaken by SMA include Sarawak Multimedia Rural Telecommunication (SMART) projects, Wifi Sarawak Linking Urban, Rural and Nation (SALURAN), Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) and Sarawak Rural Broadband Network (MySRBN). — DayakDaily
