PayPal is partnering with Malaysia Airlines to provide mobile payments on any internet-connected mobile device (view press release). The Airlines MHmobile app and flymas.mobi mobile site will now accept PayPal for all its domestic flights and from Malaysia to its international destinations. PayPal’s mobile checkout experience for Malaysia Airlines flights from other areas will be rolled out gradually in the near future. In conjunction with this deal, Malaysia Airlines’ Enrich is offering loyalty programme members 500 Enrich miles per transaction made using PayPal on mobile devices between 5th July and 5th October. The airline is also offering promotional all-in fares to commemorate the launch.
The deal came about following recent research showing the continued growth of smartphones and the mobile commerce market in Malaysia and globally. Malaysia Airlines claims there was an increase of 500% in average daily bookings via MHmobile in 2011. PayPal’s recent Mobile Shopping Insights 2011 study indicated that the mobile commerce market in Malaysia grew from around RM101 million in 2010 to RM467 million in 2011, a 370% increase in one year. The market is also forecasted to grow more than seven times to reach RM3.43 billion in 2015. There were an estimated 642,770 Malaysians who made a purchase through a mobile device in 2011 and the average spend increased to about RM500 per mobile shopper. Booking of airline tickets was in the top five mobile shopping categories for Malaysians and was worth an estimated RM32 million in total mobile transactions in 2011. Airline ticket booking is a top three category for future purchases on smartphones.
"Recognising that consumers have a 'store in their pocket' and want to shop anytime and anywhere on their mobile devices, merchants across the Asia Pacific region who innovated and adopted our mobile checkout solution were rewarded with on average a six-fold increase in their mobile sales in 2011,” said PayPal Asia Pacific director of mobile, Rahul Shinghal.
