Boost, the mobile payment system from Axiata, has expanded its functions into a full blown digital wallet. The app now includes QR code based payments and the option to send funds between users; a far cry from what it was back in January.
What Boost offers now is a more traditional mobile wallet system, allowing users to pay for goods and services from their phones. It’s similar to the version deployed by AliPay in that everything is built around pre-loaded funds; there is little-to-no interaction with credit cards.
Boost has also been working with partners to include discounts and coupons for users. Curiously, the online shopping section includes the option to purchase subscriptions for Spotify, iFlix, and Tonton. Users can also use Boost to buy Steam wallet credits, digital PlayStation store cash cards, Garena Shells, and Razer’s zGold-MOLPoints. Sadly, these gaming oriented options are the same kind of top up cards found in stores and don’t actually offer any savings over buying them anywhere else.
Prepaid top up options have been expanded past the original XPAX offering and now cover almost all prepaid providers in Malaysia. Payments for postpaid subscriptions are in the works, starting with Celcom (obviously). That said, the company is unable to comment on when this will be implemented.
What it has been talking about is a partnership with University Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), and delivering a cashless campus. The two bodies signed an MOU to bring Boost to the 200 vendors in UTM Kuala Lumpur and Skudai. At the moment, some 25 of these vendors have already signed up to accept Boost payments.
The app is also being tested across several cash based vendors within the Klang Valley, with a focus on food trucks, pasar malams, and food courts (the example given was somewhere in the Hartamas area).
Boost is available on both Android and iOS. Those signing up should note that the only difference between the basic and premium accounts is the spending limit, and no charges apply for choosing one or the other.
