Soft Space Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian payment platform and service provider, plans to invest around $10 million into Cambodia and Myanmar to tap benefits from the current development of digital payments in Cambodia.

Malaysia’s national news agency Bernama reported on Sunday that Soft Space plans to expand its electronic payment solution called Fasstap for the two emerging Asean markets where the innovation technology is developing.

Chief executive officer Joel Tay was quoted saying the two emerging markets were still growing and slowly adopting the electronic payment system in a bid to be less cash-dependent economies.

He said the company would allocate between US$5 million (US$1=RM4.15) and US$10 million for its regional expansion plan next year with a big chunk of it covering operating costs, particularly product certification which involves card schemes and payment regulators.

“I think the acceptance point would not be a problem as we believed there is a lot of card schemes and regulators supporting us in this [initiative to transform into a cashless society].

“Everyone has a debit, ATM or credit card. Therefore, in this aspect, we believe the public will adapt very easily,” he said.

Fasstap is an electronic payment service under the partnership of Soft Space and Malaysia’s national payments network, Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd, that allows small businesses and sole-proprietors to accept card payments at a minimal cost.

Businesses may use any supported Android-based smartphone with near-field communication technology to accept and process MyDebit payments or any other e-payment card, instead of relying on traditional card point-of-sale terminals.

Soft Space is currently active in Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Japan, and hopes to venture into Australia going forward.