e-pay derives most of its revenue from the retail
selling price of its e-Voucher and e-Top Up service
to prepaid mobile users through its network of Retail
Agents. Because e-pay actually purchases prepaid mobile
airtime in bulk from mobile telecommunications carriers
and resells it at a margin to its network of Retail
Agents, it must book the entire sale value as revenue
even though it nets on average approximately 3% of the
gross sales amount after paying commissions to its Retail
Agents.
e-Voucher
e-Voucher, at present is the most commonly used
electronic top up method as consumers like the
security of receiving a form of paper receipt
for their purchase. e-Voucher utilises the Terminals
installed at retail outlets and is printed electronically
only on demand with the PIN numbers encrypted
at the point of sale. Currently, e-pay’s
e-Vouchers command the largest market share in
terms of revenue for electronic top up of prepaid
mobile airtime in Malaysia.
e-Top-Up
e-Top-Up is a paperless electronic top up system
that provides real time top up of prepaid mobile
airtime at the point of sale, without the issuance
of any PINS or passwords. To access e-Top-Up the
consumer must provide to the Retail Agent at the
point of sale, an account card or a mobile phone
number issued by the mobile operator. The Retail
Agent will swipe the account card or key in the
consumer’s mobile number through the e-pay
Terminal with the desired top up amount. Within
seconds from completing the sale, the consumer’s
mobile telephone will receive a SMS text confirming
that that the top up has been successful with
the purchased top up amount credited.
Other Products
In addition to Mobile Top Up, e-pay also provides
payment collection services for long distance
telephone and pay television operators and has
recently started processing credit card transactions
on behalf of merchants (collectively “Other
Products”). Other Products presently contribute
less than 5% of the Group’s earnings.
The Directors are of the view that whilst Other
Products represent potential additional revenue
streams, Mobile Top Up will continue to dominate
e-pay’s earnings for at least the next 2
to 3 years as the penetration of mobile phone
continues to achieve double digit growth in e-pay’s
markets.
Terminal Top Up
These Terminals are usually found at large retain chains such as 7-Eleven convenient stores or a petrol station chain like BP.
SMS Top Up
e-pay’s SMS Top Up technology is unique and does not require a Terminal as it uses a mobile phone as the top up device. Below is a diagram of how it works:
