KUALA LUMPUR, 2 December 2021 – Kiplepay Sdn Bhd (Kiplepay), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Green Packet Berhad, has been awarded an outreach programme by the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) to provide a range of cashless solutions to poor and hardcore poor communities in the northern states, particularly the low-income women representing households with no fixed income to manage and accommodate their families’ expenses.

In recognising the pivotal role that mothers play in raising a family; NCIA, in collaboration with the state governments of Perlis, Perak and Kedah, introduced the Kasih Ibu programme in Malaysia’s northern region. The objective of this programme is to address the cost of living by providing financial aid to women representing households and their families, using cashless cards as opposed to cash handouts. With this, NCIA connects recipients to access necessities and healthcare benefits, while also highlighting the pivotal role that a mother plays in raising a family.

The cashless solution provided by Kiplepay features a physical prepaid card linked to a Kiple e-wallet account, enabling users to access financial aid provided by the government; as well as a payment terminal and merchant portal that allow merchants to perform cashless transactions.

“The financial assistance given to the underprivileged and hardcore poor communities complements the government’s objective to reduce their cost of living. Moreover, as it is done through Kiple’s suite of cashless solutions, we can ensure a safe, contactless and seamless digital experience for all community members – from recipients to merchants to healthcare clinics,” said Ricky Lew, Acting CEO of Kiplepay.

Activated since August 2021, recipients of the Kasih Ibu Darul Ridzuan (KIDR) and Kasih Ibu Perlis (KIP) programmes are provided RM250 monthly via the cashless card, which can be used at 182 small and local grocery merchants. Within the 182 merchants, there are a handful of notable mobile merchants created and arranged to address accessibility challenges for the Orang Asli communities in Perak.

By prioritising the cards’ usability at only local communities’ grocery merchants, the government ensures that the financial aid flows back into the community. This ultimately benefits not just recipients of the financial aid, but merchants as well.

“This programme does not just help the hardcore poor. It also helps business owners such as me by adding regular customers and increasing our sales,” said Zaleha binti Zakaria, owner of Super Gmart Mini Market in Perlis.

“This programme has helped local merchants such as me in ensuring business continuity. Since the start of the programme, my shop has recorded an average of 40 more regular customers and stock demands have increased based on the 16 necessities items listed under this programme,” Mohamad Hanafi bin Yahya, owner of Mat Pak Ya Enterprise in Gerik, Perak said.

Essential items aside, recipients can also seek medical help from 37 selected local clinics, claiming up to RM250 in costs for 5 months under execution of Kasih Ibu Darul Ridzuan and Kasih Ibu Perlis (Phase 1), with a limit of RM70 per visit. To date, the cards have been distributed to a total of 8,093 families with 41,134 dependants in Perak and Perlis. Out of the total recipients, 1,094 are from Orang Asli communities with 2,233 dependants.

Moving forward, the same Kasih Ibu initiative will continue in Kedah for a fourth time since its first in May 2019, expecting to kick off come January 2022. This initiative is aligned to the RMK-12 target of zero hardcore poor, which aims to continuously combat and break the cycle of poverty by improving living standards of B40 and Orang Asli Communities living in Malaysia’s northern states. Beyond Programme Kasih Ibu, NCER onboards the communities and integrates programmes such as empowerNCER and JomNiaga@NCER to raise income levels and reduce unemployment amongst the youths in hopes to raise the overall socioeconomic status of the communities.

“Following the success of the Kasih Ibu Darul Aman (KIDA) programme, NCIA has expanded it to Perak and Perlis to help more of those affected by COVID-19. Kasih Ibu Darul Ridzuan (KIDR) and Kasih Ibu Perlis (KIP) are a part of the government’s assistance programme in handling increased cost of living and family expenses. We are confident that KIDA, KIDR, KIP, and other related human capital integration programmes under NCIA will empower more households and improve their marginalised socioeconomic statuses,” said Datuk Seri Jebasingam Issace John, Chief Executive of NCIA.

For more information on current Kasih Ibu Programmes, participating merchants, and clinics, please visit the respective websites; Kasih Ibu Perlis at www.ncer.kiperlis.com and Kasih Ibu Darul Ridzuan at www.ncer.kidrperak.com