Association calls for e-voucher scheme improvement

There is room for improvement in the forthcoming e-voucher scheme, part of the third round of stimulus package, a local alliance representative opined during yesterday’s TDM radio program Macau Forum.
The president of the Macau Economic Association, Lao Pun Lap, commented that the consumption subsidy doled out in the previous two rounds to Macau residents was considered not to be very efficacious in stimulating the city’s economy.
Therefore, the new e-voucher scheme has been remodeled with a new tactic, which is to tap into the joint efforts of the public, the government and the business sector to prop up the local market, Lao said.
But he acknowledged that there is room to modify the execution of the e-voucher scheme. Potential advancements include extending or removing the 15-day validity period set for the usage of each voucher.
“I think [the government] should consider removing [the 15-day constraint] to let users spend with greater convenience,” he said.
Lao also suggests the government set up promotional and explanatory material on how to use and redeem e-vouchers through mobile payment tools and to bolster the effort on monitoring market prices.
Local businesses should also work in parallel with the scheme, and mount discounted promotions to further spur domestic spending, he suggested.
Mpay applies for real-name authentication for minors
According to TDM, Mpay, one of the city’s eight mobile payment platforms, currently with around 530,000 registered users, has applied to the Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) for real-name authentication for people aged under 18.
Under the rules of the new e-voucher scheme, it requires an individual to spend via their mobile-payment accounts, authenticated by their real names.
“We applied as we want to offer a convenient and fast procedure for those aged under 18 to apply for an Mpay real-name account,” vice-president of Macau Pass Man Wong said.
MPay also submitted the request to AMCM to increase the daily and yearly spending upper limit for their users.
Wong said the response of AMCM to the requests is “overwhelmingly positive.” She believes the ratification will come later.
The Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT) stated that the government is now preparing the formulation of administrative regulations to standardize the particulars of e-voucher scheme.
The new stimulus package, since its announcement on March 15, has attracted widespread criticism, with most criticizing the “spend first; redeem later” e-voucher scheme for involving complicated regulations.
The DSEDT released a statement on March 16, reaffirming that the redemption method of the new e-voucher scheme is easy and convenient.
As of now, Macau has more than one million users registered for mobile payment tools. Among them, 764,000 were registered with real names, according to the data provided by AMCM.

MUST scholar deems gov’t stimulus ‘acceptable’

The government’s latest stimulus scheme is preferable to no action, considering the changing conditions, chair professor Jacky So Yuk Chow, vice president and Dean of School of Business of the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) has expressed.
Compared to the consumption card that was issued last year, the e-coupon model is much more indirect. Customers have a tendency to forget how many coupons are still in their possession, he said in an interview with Chinese newspaper Exmoo. He added that opting for the consumption card will easily boost consumption, although the e-coupon will, in some way, aid various industries.
Meanwhile, Chan Pou Sam, member of the Municipal Affairs Advisory Committee, also finds the reward scheme too complicated for some. Chan believes it will easily confuse senior residents and cause trouble among the general public, and that it will also slow down the pace of revival.
He suggests an instant deduction as a substitute for rewarding cumulative consumptions, if not fully reviving last year’s consumption card scheme, which can most directly and swiftly help groups without work.
He also recommended that the government expand its promotion of the scheme so as to familiarize residents with its mechanisms.
Kwan Fung, assistant professor in the Department of Economics of the University of Macau (UM), told the Times earlier that he believes the stimulus package is potent enough to stabilize the city’s economy and employment rate, but agreed that further explanation should be carried out to allow the public to grasp the concept more clearly, and to address negative speculation. He urged the government to extend the program’s benefits to travelers to generate more momentum.
On the other hand, lawmaker Agnes Lam said earlier there are many limitations upon the usage of the e-vouchers and the scheme favors the financially abled, instead of the impoverished within Macau. AL