HSBC has announced that merchants who are receiving payments via DuitNow QR (Via Current/Savings Account and e- wallets) will continue to enjoy a waiver on Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) charges until further notice.
This comes after the recent announcement by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) that micro and small businesses will continue to benefit from DuitNow QR payment fee waivers. This announcement was made following concerns regarding the end of a temporary fee waiver introduced in 2019.
This fee was intended to cover costs and investments needed by the industry to upkeep their payment systems, of which includes cybersecurity and fraud prevention controls, in order to maintain the high service and security standards for payment services.
For now, businesses that utilise DuitNow QR as a payment method do not need to incur costs for point-of-sale (POS) terminal rental for card-based payments or additional overhead and administrative costs for handling cash payments.
According to BNM, the industry will be taking measures to minimise as much of the potential impact of transaction fees on small businesses as possible.
Since then, other service providers such as Touch ‘n Go (TnG) has also announced that it will continue to waive transaction fees and charges for all merchants accepting payments via the DuitNow QR payment service until further notice.
Earlier, Public Bank, Maybank and CIMB have also issued public statements to maintain the zero transaction fee policy under the end of 2023.
HSBC Bank Malaysia and HSBC Amanah Malaysia (HSBC Malaysia) has stated that it remains committed to supporting merchants and their customers on the journey towards a paper-to-electronic cashless society and will continue to drive economic growth for Malaysia through cost-effective and innovative payment channels.
