The world of e-Commerce has taken a brave new leap forward this month in Malaysia. Not only did TechCentral report on a new company partnered with eBay offering online escrow services, but on top of that PayPal finally decided to start allowing Malaysians to withdraw their digital funds onto their local credit cards.

Mesdaq-listed company MOL AccessPortal Bhd (MOL) has collaborated with eBay International AG to officially launch MOL SafePay, an “escrow” based secure online payment solution that will enable Malaysians to carry out online purchases & sales. 

“We are delighted today to collaborate with eBay, the biggest online auction company in the world to launch MOL SafePay,” said MOL chief executive officer Ganesh Kumar Bangah in his speech at the signing ceremony on Thursday.  “With this, buyers and sellers on eBay.com.my will have the option to have funds securely transmitted,” he added.  As purchases are made online, MOL SafePay will temporarily hold payment from a buyer until the merchandise is delivered to the seller.  

Upon successful delivery, MOL SafePay would then release the payment to the seller by crediting his or her own ‘MOL Freedom Prepaid Mastercard.’  The MOL Freedom Prepaid Mastercard is a prepaid mastercard which has the features of a credit card with prepaid conveniences.

The MOL Freedom starter packs are available at 7-Eleven outlets nationwide to anyone above 12 years of age.

However, not only does this process sound a little long winded and fairly anti-climatic, but on top of that, the website has the look and feel of phishing written all over it, and is not a place we would trust for little more than the time it takes to close a window. Take a look:

However, when you compare this to the comforting look and feel of PayPal and their magnificent news, it hardly seems appropriate to have mentioned MOL in the first place: