HSBC Bank Malaysia and HSBC Amanah Malaysia (HSBC Malaysia) continue to waive Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) charges until further notice.
In a statement issued today (Oct 5), HSBC stated that merchants receiving payments via DuitNow quick-response (QR) through current and savings accounts, as well as e-wallets, will continue to benefit from the waiver on MDR charges.
“HSBC Malaysia remains committed to supporting merchants and our customers on the journey towards a paperless, electronic cashless society, and will persist in driving economic growth for Malaysia through cost-effective and innovative payment channels,” it noted.
On Sep 29, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) informed that the bank has not implemented any fees related to DuitNow QR and will continue this practice until further notice.
On Sep 28, Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet) announced that there would be no new fee for using the QR code transaction service. However, it clarified that the MDR waiver, which had been in place for four years, would expire on November 1.
MDR is a fee paid by merchants for accepting card payments.
The MDR waiver was initially introduced in 2019 to promote QR payments and was extended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
PayNet explained that e-payments made by customers to merchants are usually subject to MDR, calculated as a percentage of the transaction value, whereas QR payments have been exempted. The termination of the MDR waiver has been long overdue.
PayNet will establish a reserve fund with the collected MDR to incentivise acquirers not to impose MDR on small merchants.
They assured that the prices of goods and services would not be affected by the implementation of MDR for DuitNow QR purchases, as similar pricing is maintained for credit and debit card purchases, which are already subject to MDR.
PayNet also clarified that a 50 sen fee applies only to peer-to-peer fund transfers exceeding RM5,000 between personal QR codes and not to payments made to merchants. This fee is unrelated to the MDR and will not be imposed on the same transaction under any circumstances.
