Merchantrade Asia Sdn Bhd (Merchantrade), Malaysia’s largest Money Services Business (MSB) operator and a leading player in the digital payments space, has been officially recognized as an approved issuer of a designated payment instrument by the Jabatan Tenaga Kerja Semenanjung Malaysia (JTKSM) for the purpose of wage payments.

This is in line with the Employment (Recognized Approved Issuer of a Designated Payment Instrument) Order 2024 issued by the Minister of Human Resources.

Recognizing the significant challenges employers face in opening traditional bank accounts for migrant workers and other unbanked segments, this solution is set to transform the payroll process for companies by eliminating cash and cheque-based payments and enabling direct salary disbursements into employees’ Merchantrade Money e-wallet.

From large MNCs to SMEs, this solution will be a game-changer across various industries, including plantation, manufacturing, construction, service, and domestic work.

“Digital wage payments are gaining momentum worldwide, and we are proud to be leading this evolution in Malaysia,” said Ramasamy K. Veeran, Founder and Managing Director of Merchantrade.

As Malaysia’s largest remittance player, Merchantrade has established itself as a trusted brand among the migrant worker community, recording an outbound remittance turnover of RM8.15 billion in 2023.

The company has also served over 5 million customers since its inception, through its online and brick-and-mortar channels, across its remittance, currency exchange, e-wallet, insurance, and telecommunications services.

The Merchantrade Money e-wallet offers a wallet size of up to RM20K and comes with a suite of meaningful digital financial features such as remittances, mobile top-ups, micro-insurance, QR payments, and P2P transfers.

Through a collaboration with AmBank Islamic, the integration of Merchantrade Money e-wallet (RM20K) with an AmBank Islamic Hybrid Current Account-i (hCA-i) (RM30K) allows users to access a combined limit of up to RM50,000, making it the first of its kind in Malaysia.

Paired with a Visa prepaid card, users can make cash withdrawals and cashless payments, both at retail outlets and online. The multilingual app also is available in 8 languages including English, Malay, Bengali, Indonesian, and other migrant-centric languages.

Ramasamy further added, “Expanding into digital wage solutions was a natural progression following our growth in the remittance and e-wallet space, addressing yet another critical pain point for foreign workers and other unbanked segments in Malaysia.

Over the years, we have built a robust ecosystem tailored to the needs of this segment; thus, we believe Merchantrade is strategically positioned to facilitate the shift from cash to digital wage payments.”

Complementing its proprietary wage disbursement and e-wallet platforms, the company’s ecosystem includes an extensive network of physical touchpoints, with 95 branches and over 490 agent locations nationwide serving as support centers with dedicated on-ground teams that assist both employers and employees in urban and rural areas.

The company’s ‘first-to-last-mile’ approach ensures comprehensive support at every step of their journey, from onboarding and training to after-sales service.

From an ESG perspective, this solution supports Merchantrade’s mission of promoting equitable financial services and is closely aligned with the government’s digital transformation and sustainability agenda, as well as Malaysia’s Financial Inclusion Framework FY2023–FY2026.

vivo Malaysia is proud to announce the successful conclusion of its Dream Field 2.0 CSR campaign, which ran from 6 June to 14 July 2024. Aligned with the excitement of the UEFA EURO 2024, the campaign aimed to inspire young Malaysians to pursue their passion for
football while contributing to the development of sports infrastructure in schools.

Through Dream Field 2.0, vivo successfully donated over RM10,000 worth of football equipment, including jerseys and football boots from every vivo V30 series smartphone sold during the campaign period.

Five schools across the nation were selected for this programme to empower young athletes with essential equipment to excel in their sporting endeavours. By investing in these young athletes and improving school facilities, vivo hopes to inspire the next generation of football stars and create a lasting impact on the community.

Building upon the success of the inaugural Dream Field initiative in 2021, which focused on
supporting differently-abled football athletes, Dream Field 2.0 expanded its reach to benefit a wider range of young individuals.

The campaign not only provided essential resources but also aimed to cultivate a sustainable sports culture in schools, encouraging students to embrace physical activity
and teamwork.

vivo’s dedication to excellence extends beyond its philanthropic endeavours. The company recently achieved a remarkable milestone in the Chinese smartphone market, securing a 17.93% market share with an impressive 11.95 million units activated in Q2 2024.

This represents a substantial year-on-year growth of 7.17%, solidifying vivo’s position as a dominant force in the industry. vivo remains committed to its role as a responsible corporate citizen and will continue to explore opportunities to support youth development and community initiatives.

Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) launched its first brand licensing initiative in partnership with SIM Distribuidora (SIM), that will operate three pilot fuel retail stations in Brazil.

Strategically positioned in key urban locations, the three PETRONAS-branded fuel retail stations will provide customers with convenient access to PETRONAS’ high performance fuel solutions, including PETRONAS Primax^TM fuel with proprietary fuel additive technologies, PETRONAS Syntium^TM lubricants, and other services designed to enhance the customer experience for everyday drivers on the road based on its learnings and technology taken from the Formula One track.

PETRONAS Vice President, Refining, Trading and Marketing, Ahmad Adly Alias said, “For the first time ever, customers in Brazil can experience our products derived from our award-winning Fluid Technology Solutions^TM that have been powering champions in Formula One.

“Beyond that, Brazil’s extensive vehicle fleet within the Latin America region presents us with an opportunity to tap into a wider customer base.”

“We are excited to have our Brazilian customers, who may have seen our logo at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace or Interlagos circuit, experience first-hand the mastery of our advanced solutions, beyond lubricants,” he added.

This partnership model is PETRONAS’ first brand licensing approach to enter new retail segments in global markets, through which PETRONAS licenses its brand and fuel formulations to established independent fuel retailers, leveraging their operational strength and expertise in their respective markets.

This model sees the partner taking on the financial and operational aspects of the fuel retail stations.

“Together with our partners, we are committed to deliver value in achieving a shared ambition for growth,” added Ahmad Adly.

SIM is an existing partner to PETRONAS as an authorised distributor of its lubricants arm since 2022. It has a network of 540 retail stations across three states in the southern region of Brazil.

“We are proud to launch these 3 first stations and develop this strategic partnership with PETRONAS here in Brazil. We believe that this will be an amazing new option for our consumers and dealers,” said Neco Argenta, President of Argenta Group, the holding company of SIM.

The advanced methods Galaxy employs to keep your information safe with Private Sharing and Enhanced Data Protection

Concerns over the invasion of privacy and the loss of ownership have become increasingly common. As technology continues to become further embedded in our everyday lives, our communication increasingly takes place online – which often means sharing sensitive and private information over the Internet.

It can be hard to know the right way to do this. For example, you might have concerns around the security of third-party messaging platforms. Or you might be worried that your private information and data could be lost or compromised in the event of a server attack or the loss of your phone.

When connecting to another device, you might also worry about who can see that data, and how to keep it secure. At Samsung, we’ve thought of all this and made it our mission to keep you protected so you can safely and comfortably share your data with whoever you choose.

Private Sharing with Quick Share

Ever been in a situation like this? You want to share pictures of your newborn baby, or a video from your recent holiday, but don’t want to risk them somehow ending up online or visible to anyone other than those you intended.

Samsung Galaxy has a built-in solution to this problem: Quick Share’s Private Sharing, a privacy-preserving file-sharing function that lets you share your data with peace of mind.
With Private Sharing, you and you alone own the data. You can ensure that only the designated recipients can open the files you send – no one else. You can also set permissions and expiration dates for the data, so it’s only viewable for a limited amount of time.

Further, you can give read-only access without the ability to re-share; revoke the data access whenever you like; restrict screenshotting, and see when the recipient received and opened the file.

Private Sharing makes it safe and easy to share your content, and you can share up to 20 files at once with a total size of under 200MB. And of course, all your files are securely and fully encrypted when shared, courtesy of blockchain-based encryption technology.

To use Private Sharing, select the file you want to send and tap the Share icon. Tap Quick Share, followed by the three dots for more options in the top right corner. Then select Turn on Private Sharing.

Once the message has been sent, you can check what you’ve sent and change the expiration date or revoke sharing permissions.

The Knox Journals Story 4 out of 6

▲ Select file > Quick Share > Three dots (more options) > Turn on Private sharing

No more worries about misfiring a private photo or file, or having your information fall into the wrong hands. With Quick Share’s Private Sharing, you’re in control of your data and who you choose to share it with, and you’ll be kept up to date every step of the way.

Enhanced Data Protection with End-to-End Encryption

Here’s a moment that would make anyone panic. You receive a notification that something’s gone wrong with a website you visited, and the server where your sensitive account details are stored has been compromised.

No one wants their data leaked. But with Galaxy’s Enhanced Data Protection, you can rest assured that your data remains secure in the Samsung Cloud. Starting with the Galaxy S24, Enhanced Data Protection offers additional protection for Galaxy devices when you sync or back up your data with Samsung Cloud.

This feature mitigates data loss via end-to-end encryption (E2EE), which ensures data can only be encrypted or decrypted on your device and cannot be seen by anyone but you. In other words, you can connect to other devices while staying secure, and your data will be kept safe even if a server is compromised or account details are stolen.

When you activate Enhanced Data Protection, you’ll be prompted to write down a recovery code to help prevent the loss of your data in the event you lose your device.

To use Enhanced Data Protection, open the Samsung Cloud app, tap the three dots for more options, choose Settings, and then Enhanced Data Protection. From here, you can choose to encrypt backup or synced data.

Alternatively, you can open your device Settings and go to Security and Privacy to find this feature.

More security settings & Enhanced data protection

End-to-end encrypted data is only accessible on devices using the Enhanced Data Protection feature, and cannot be accessed by anyone else, including Samsung.

We know that our users want to be able to enjoy their lives safely with the knowledge that their devices and data are protected. Galaxy enables you to do just that – so you can safely go out there knowing we have your back.

AmBank has entered in an exclusive partnership with Enrich, Malaysia Airlines’ travel and lifestyle loyalty programme, to launch two new travel credit cards, the AmBank Enrich Visa Infinite Credit Card and AmBank Enrich Visa Platinum Credit Card.

Powered by Visa, these co-branded credit cards aim to offer avid travellers a world of privileges, lifestyle rewards and priority services.

Cardholders of the new AmBank Enrich Visa Credit Cards can enjoy exclusive travel perks, including up to 10% discount all year round on Malaysia Airlines flights, earning Enrich Points for every spend, complimentary access to Malaysia Airlines Golden Lounge, fast track to Enrich Elite Status, and travel insurance covering personal accidents, missed or delayed flights, as well as luggage delay or lost.

“We are excited to expand our partnership with our national carrier, Malaysia Airlines, with its renowned reputation for bringing Malaysian Hospitality to over 900 destinations across 170 territories.

This collaboration comes as we have seen a significant increase in our customers’ travel-related and airlines spending with a jump of 45% from pre-Covid period. These cards are not just credit cards; they provide a gateway to extraordinary experiences where the journey is as rewarding as the destination,” said Aaron Loo, Managing Director, Retail Banking, AmBank.

According to Philip See, Chief Executive Officer of Loyalty and Travel Services, Malaysia Aviation Group, “We are pleased to usher in a new era of travel rewards through our co-branded partnership with Visa and AmBank.

This exclusive collaboration aims to redefine the travel landscape by offering exclusive benefits to Enrich members and we invite everyone to embark on a journey where every transaction unlocks unparalleled rewards and creates memorable experiences to dream destinations and beyond.”
 
Serene Gay, Group Country Manager, Regional Southeast Asia, Visa, said, “Visa is delighted to partner with AmBank and Enrich to offer the new co-branded credit cards.

The launch is particularly timely and in tandem with a current healthy appetite for international travel among Malaysians, where cross-border payment volume by Malaysian cardholders grew over 30% compared to the previous year¹.

Based on our recent study², Malaysian travellers intend to take an average of 2.7 international trips this year.  We believe the speed, convenience, and security that are synonymous with digital payments together with a suite of privileges will help elevate cardholders’ experiences when they travel and pay with Visa.”
 
As part of the launch, AmBank also introduced a limited time only welcome offer for new applicants until 30 September 2024. Successful new applicants can receive up to 10,000 Enrich Points, a trip for 2 to London in Business Class or Phuket in Economy Class by being a top spender, and an additional up to 10,000 Enrich Points for every successful referral.