KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia will start a programme on Wednesday to hand out a total of 450 million ringgit (S$148 million) to nearly half of its citizens, the government said, in a drive to increase digital transactions that will be a big boost for e-wallet companies.

The money will be distributed through Southeast Asian e-wallet operators Grab, backed by SoftBank Group (9984.T); telecom company Axiata's (AXIA.KL) Boost; and Touch 'n Go, which is backed by banking group CIMB (CIMB.KL) and China's Ant Financial.