KiplePay to roll out KipleUNI e-wallet service to three more universities by 1H2020

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 17): Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd and Green Packet Bhd's wholly-owned unit KiplePay Sdn Bhd, which today launched KipleUNl, are planning to roll out the e-wallet service to another three universities by the first half of this year.

The three universities are Universiti Teknologi MARA, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka and Universiti Putra Malaysia. To date, KipIeUNl e-wallet service is only available at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), with 70% of the total students using the service.

This is following the memorandum of understanding (MoU) that was signed between the two parties in July last year to provide electronic wallet services.

Bank Islam chief executive officer (CEO) Mohd Muazzam Mohamed, during the KipleUNI launch here today, said KiplePay is geared to fulfil the needs of students, universities and merchant partners via seamless electronic payment transactions and a digital platform.

"Students and users can now link their credit or debit cards for direct cashless payments within the universities, as well as other selected merchants outside the campuses, he added.

“Optimistic with its potential, the take-up rate of KipleUNI is estimated to reach more than 175,000 university users by end-2020,” said Muazzam, adding that the bank projects more than 50% of them to be active users.

Not limiting to these universities only, Muazzam said all Bank Islam merchants that are operating in any public universities right now will be able to enjoy this service almost immediately upon subscription.

“Bank Islam is always innovating towards giving added value to our customers across various segments. In our passage to accelerate our digital banking journey, we leveraged on KiplePay's expertise to provide a platform that enhances customer experience while supporting the government’s effort in growing the digital economy agenda,” said Muazzam.

On top of its partnership via KipleUNI, Muazzam said the bank’s “partnership goes even beyond that” as KiplePay is also the bank’s third-party payment processor as well as merchant acquirer.

On its expansion to roll out in other universities, KiplePay CEO Tan Kay Yen said the company is also looking to offer the KipleUNI service to private universities, noting that there are “a few mid-tier private universities” that have been reached out to.

“As a trusted fintech partner to many, we see it as our responsibility and commitment to enhance the value of our solutions to the students, administrators and merchants at education hubs, campuses and university towns.”

"Our innovative solutions stem from our continuous learning, on-ground tests and understanding the specific needs of our communities. It is through these actions that we create a robust and holistic ecosystem that promotes the digital lifestyle for the users through the KipleUNI programme,” said Tan.

There are 680,000 students in various public universities and more than 200,000 faculty staff in Malaysia. Bank lslam and KipIePay are looking to progressively make the KipleUNI programme available to 50% of the campuses, considering the feasibility of the application, and will be continuously progressing towards a wider reach of audience as more features are added, said KiplePay.