KUALA LUMPUR (March 2): Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd is partnering with homegrown e-wallet Boost to focus more on cashless transactions, which have risen in popularity since the Movement Control Order (MCO) last year.

In a joint statement today, the firms said the collaboration will see Rakuten Trade shifting towards providing its digital retail investors with more immediate gratification through reward points being converted into affiliate rewards that can be turned into Boost e-wallet coins.

Rakuten Trade, which launched its rewards ecosystem in August 2017, issues an average of 4.3 million Rakuten Trade (RT) points monthly.

As at Dec 31, 2020, revenue generated from its rewards ecosystem stood at RM16.3 million and has been on an upward trend each year.

Rakuten Trade chief executive officer Kazumasa Mise said continuous evolution is crucial for business development and growth as the current environment has dictated the need for digital transactions to be an integral part of everyone's daily life.

“That is why Rakuten Trade has strategically joined hands with Boost, given our mutual synergy when it comes to digitalization and bringing meaningful rewards to our respective clients,” said Mise, adding that the key benefit of online trading, besides the low brokerage fees, is the reward.

Meanwhile, Boost’s chief executive officer Mohd Khairil Abdullah said the digital and online growth experienced last year showed endless untapped potential and opportunities on how businesses can reimagine and explore new ways to use digital platforms to operate.

“This collaboration will drive interoperability between digital providers and push the envelope on Boost’s capabilities as an omnichannel platform that is both rewarding and functional, moving beyond just digital payments.

“With our constantly growing merchant network to choose from, Rakuten Trade customers will be spoilt for choice on where to spend their rewards,” added Khairil.

Rakuten Trade noted that this partnership will enable its clients to convert their RT points on a point to coin basis (1 RT point = 1 Boost coin) and therefore qualify Boost coins to be redeemed for everyday essentials like food and beverages, household items, groceries, bill repayment and even conversion into e-wallet cash.