Report: Despite boom, local e-wallet firms still lack marketing engagement

A GLOBAL marketing agency reveals that while e-wallet companies in Malaysia are seeing a rise in business, many have not fully leveraged on the potential of digital marketing, media and corporate social responsibility (CSR).

“Our study show gaps in marketing engagement among e-wallet companies and the need for the brands to focus less on the technical, vanity aspects of marketing engagement and more on building stronger connection with their customers,” Team Lewis said, in its report entitled E-Wallets Marketing Engagement Index.

Elaborating, Team Lewis managing director Ann Chong said that as fintech market continues to attract more players in Malaysia, competition will become stiff to attract sustained interest from consumers.

With that, she added, it was important how a brand is perceived by the masses, with its reputation becoming as fundamental as the product or services the company is offering.

“And this has never been more important in times of a pandemic, when consumers are closely watching the behaviour of some of the country’s popular brands.

“Therefore, tracking consumer sentiment and having analytical data will enable marketers to gain clearer insight into what would work for their consumers,” Chong noted.

Among the findings in the report include:

  • MayBank2U was ranked #1 among the 15 e-wallets analysed in the report, scoring highest across all categories including social presence, digital engagement, site optimisation and CSR. Other brands that made the Top 5 are GrabPay, TouchNGo, Boost and Lazada Wallet.
  • All brands in the Top 5 displayed higher-than-average user experience scores, an attribute that consumers today expect as part of their digital brand experience.
  • The top performing brands noticeably pivoted their communications on owned platforms by featuring COVID-19 related information, resources or marketing campaigns.
  • Although this showed receptiveness and adaptability, overall scores for CSR projects and community engagements were low amongst all 15 brands.
  • In general, the Malaysian e-wallet brands analysed had a higher score for mobile, chat and app as compared to the 2020 Global 300 average by a margin of 8%.
  • Malaysian e-wallets outperformed the brands in the 2020 Global 300 by a margin of 4% in terms of its social presence.

Based on the report, Chong said that e-wallet companies are already making notable investments in ensuring a seamless customer experience across mobile, chat and app, ranking higher than the global standard.

“In Malaysia, the increasing dependence on digital payments spurred by COVID-19 has offered e-wallet brands the unique opportunity to redefine their relationships with customers,” she remarked. – Sept 18, 2021

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