KUALA LUMPUR – Charges imposed to vendors for payments through DuitNow will not affect the lower-income group, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar said his assurance comes following a discussion with Bank Negara Malaysia governor, Datuk Shaik Abdul Rasheed Abdul Ghaffour.
“I had a discussion with the governor yesterday. According to him, the charges will not be imposed for the lower class,” he told reporters following a visit to an exhibition at the KL Jazz & Arts Centre, here today.
“Bank Negara Malaysia has its duty, let it do it.
“What’s important now is not to burden the lower-income group.”
However, Anwar did not specify the parameters behind the mechanism in defining those in the lower-income group.
Nonetheless, he said BNM will provide an explanation for the matter.
Previously, Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet), with BNM as its single largest shareholder, announced that vendors will be charged merchant discount rates (MDR) when receiving payments through the DuitNow QR code platform, beginning November 1.
Following this, major banks including Maybank, CIMB and Public Bank said they would waive the MDR charges until the end of the year, or until further notice.
Subsequently, PayNet in a statement clarified that the MDR is not a new fee.
It explained that debit and credit card payments have always been subjected to MDR charges, but the prices of products and services purchased with the method remained the same as cash payments.
As such, PayNet added that it does not foresee the price of goods and services changing after the MDR imposition as well.
The MDR waiver was introduced as an incentive to encourage the usage of QR payments during its inception in 2019.
The waiver, which was supposed to end over nine months ago, was extended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, on concerns of a 50 sen fee for transactions above RM5,000, PayNet said it only applies to fund transfers from one personal QR to another, and is not related to payments to vendors. – September 29, 2023