Malaysian consumers prefer cash over card

Malaysian consumers are among the least confident people in the world when it comes to shopping online and 6 in 10 Malaysians prefers cash as daily spending method, a recent study shows.

According to a survey by research company Nielsen, 60% of Malaysian consumers say their preferred payment method for daily spending is paper rather than plastic.

The same source indicates that Malaysians’ preferred form of payment is cash (60%), credit card (20%), debit card (14%) and prepaid card (2%). This preference for cash was even stronger in the Philippines (74%), Thailand (68%) and Vietnam (61%).

When it comes to cyber-safety concerns, research points out that more than half of Malaysian respondents (55%) say they are either hesitant or would not shop online and use their payment card details on either a smartphone or tablet device although their personal information is protected. Consumers in Vietnam (54%), Singapore (51%) and Indonesia (50%) share the same view. However, consumers in the Philippines (57%) and Thailand (55%) revealed that they feel comfortable shopping online using their payment card detailed stored on smart devices.

Nielsen’s figures also reveal that 42% of Malaysian respondents use one payment card on a regular basis, while 40% use two, and 11% use three. Only 6% of respondents regularly use more than three cards.

The Nielsen survey, dubbedGlobal Survey of Saving and Investment Strategies is based on a sample of more than 30,000 internet respondents in 60 countries.