KUALA LUMPUR: Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) (fundamental: 1.5; valuation: 1.3) expects to see a 20% growth in its card merchant billing from the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) segment.

“Last year (2014), we recorded about RM10 billion of billings from SMEs, that was a 10% growth from 2013. This year, we foresee that there will be 20% growth,” Maybank group head of cards, B Ravintharan told reporters yesterday after the launch of a new mobile point-of-sales services (mPOS), a collaboration with Maxis Bhd (fundamental: 1.15; valuation: 0.9).

Maybank currently has about 45,000 merchant clients, representing 36% of market share, the largest among its peers, with half of them from SMEs. Ravintharan said the rate charges on merchants for mPOS varied among sectors, but that it would be very low if the transaction was meant for charity.

“The standard price is probably around 1.8%, but it will vary for different business segments. If it is for charity, our charges will be much lower,” he explained.

Ravintharan said the goods and services tax (GST) will not be imposed on transactions done via the new facility.

However, for credit cards that carry annual fees, GST will be imposed on the annual fees. Still, Ravintharan noted that most annual fees for credit cards now are usually waived.

Maybank and Maxis are targeting to garner 4,000 new merchants this year with mPOS.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 27, 2015.