KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 21): Pertama Digital Bhd is urging banks to lift limits on FPX transactions as it predicts that digital bail collections will rise further this year after the Covid-19 pandemic forced courts to move their operations to digital platforms.

In a statement, its executive director Sabri Abdul Rahman said this would enable the full adoption of its digital bail payment solution eJamin.

"Bail amounts in Malaysia can range from a few thousand up to a million or more. Today, there is a payment transfer limit per transaction. Therefore, we need the backing of PayNet, certain banks and the authorities to revise the FPX and bank transfer limits to help make the use of online bail payments applicable to a wider variety of cases," Sabri added.

The group said it witnessed rapid growth in digital bail collections last year, when a total RM45.46 million was collected, with month-on-month growth of 18.21%.

Pertama Digital expects total bail collections to swell by 10 times to RM450 million.

To date, the solution has been implemented in 133 court locations, with more in the pipeline. Pertama Digital is also looking at expanding its digital bail system for police remands and the Syariah criminal courts.

Meanwhile, its chief executive officer Amanda Sabri also noted that the Covid-19 pandemic is speeding up the adoption of digital payments in many sectors of the economy, including bail payments.

"We welcome the recent statement by the Chief Justice on enhancement of technology usage within the court environment. Now that our systems are stabilised and widespread, people can look towards phasing out the traditional way of paying bail and fully using eJamin," said Amanda.

"In light of the re-implementation of the Movement Control Order in January, the courts are ensuring that bail transactions can be processed as usual. The use of eJamin directly contributes to that objective, for the ease of the rakyat," she added.

eJamin was developed by Pertama Digital's portfolio company, Dapat Vista (M) Sdn Bhd. It allows bailors to make payments digitally within a few minutes, ensuring a quick release of accused persons pending their criminal cases being heard.

At noon break, Pertama Digital's share price rose one sen or 2.53% to 40.5 sen, bringing it a market capitalisation of RM176 million.