BNM to scrap 50 sen instant transfer fee

> Applies to e-payment of up to RM5,000 each, effective July 1, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) which is stepping up efforts to propel migration towards the electronic payments (e-payment) space and reduce cost stemming from traditional payment modes, has announced a fee waiver of 50 sen for instant transfer for single transaction of up to RM5,000 made by individuals and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), effective July 1, 2018.

“There are a few strategies we ought to adopt, to reduce further wastage arising from the cost of maintaining two parallel systems by accelerating the displacement of cheques, harness the pervasiveness of mobile payments to ensure reach and focus on solving the last mile obstacles to enhance migration to e-payments,” BNM governor Tan Sri Muhammad Ibrahim said in his keynote address at the 2017 Payments Forum & Exhibition on Friday.

Meanwhile, in view of the high processing cost for cheques as well as to hasten migration to the e-payment space, cheques will see a hike in cheque fee from 50 sen to RM1 from Jan 2, 2021 and a gradual increase thereafter to reflect the actual cost of cheque processing.

Muhammad highlighted that cheques are a costlier payment option compared with e-payment, given its processing cost of RM4, in constrast to interbank GIRO and instant transfer which would only cost around 30 sen per transaction.

Meanwhile, the central bank had issued an exposure draft on its website on Dec 7, in which it had outlined the proposed requirements for the Interoperable Credit Transfer Framework to facilitate and to ensure the inter-operability of the shared payment infrastructure between banks and non-banks electronic money (emoney) issuers. The consultation will be open for feedback until Jan 8, 2018.