There’s little cost to using QR codes, Wee reminds banks

 

Ayer Hitam MP Wee Ka Siong said banks had collected higher revenue every year and did not need to collect service fees from DuitNow merchants.

PETALING JAYA: Wee Ka Siong has kept up pressure on banks to waive a service fee imposed on merchants who accept DuitNow electronic payments, saying that the QR code system imposes little costs on the banks.

Wee, who is Ayer Hitam MP and MCA president, said the DuitNow QR code system was “simply a display of stickers on the walls or the payment counters” and did not require any maintenance work as required for countertop terminals used to authorise and accept credit card payments.

Wee Ka Siong.

“Therefore, the operational costs borne by the banks are minimal,” he said in an online posting.

DuitNow is a universal financial transfer and payment system, by which someone can send money to another person using only their phone number or identity card number.

As a retail system, it allows the public to pay for purchases from their bank accounts or through an e-wallet system such as Touch ‘n Go, Grab Pay, or Boost by scanning a DuitNow QR code displayed by merchants.

Wee said that as banks had registered increased revenue every year, they did not need to rely on collecting merchant fees for accepting electronic payments through the DuitNow system.

Wee, a former federal minister, said the implementation of cashless payment via DuitNow and other e-wallet systems meant that Bank Negara Malaysia as the central bank had less need to print new currency notes and coins.

“This is certainly a significant saving,” he said.

Bank Negara is the major shareholder of Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet), which set up the DuitNow payment system. Eleven commercial banks are also PayNet shareholders.

PayNet recently confirmed that a service fee will be charged on commercial users who accept payments through the DuitNow system from Nov 1. The fee, called the merchant discount rate, had been waived since DuitNow was set up in 2019.

On Thursday, Wee called for PayNet to continue the waiver as it could benefit both small merchants and banks. - FMT