Continue MDR waiver for DuitNow QR users, says Wee

Wee Ka Siong said the MDR waiver benefits both small merchants and banks.

PETALING JAYA: MCA president Wee Ka Siong has called for Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet) to continue waiving the merchant discount rate (MDR) for DuitNow QR users.

Wee said the waiver could benefit both small merchants and banks.

“Most (DuitNow QR users) are small merchants who would receive cash payments if they did not use DuitNow QR.

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“So, banks will also benefit from the reduction in cash handling costs if merchants prefer using the DuitNow QR method over cash,” the former transport minister said in a Facebook post today.

He said the waiver would also align with the government’s digitalisation efforts.

Earlier, PayNet confirmed that vendors will incur a transaction fee for payments received via the DuitNow QR code platform from Nov 1.

The payment network said the MDR waiver for DuitNow QR payments to merchants, which had been in place since 2019 and extended during the Covid-19 pandemic, will also be lifted.

It said MDR is neither a new fee nor an additional charge.

PayNet also said it does not anticipate an impact on the prices of goods and services due to DuitNow QR payments after MDR imposition.

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Addressing concerns that the MDR costs will be passed on to consumers, it pointed out that purchases made with credit and debit cards already incur MDR.

“Purchases using credit and debit cards are already subject to MDR. Products and services purchased with credit or debit cards are priced the same as cash purchases,” it added. - FMT