It said the prohibition is provided under the Payment Card Reform Framework introduced by BNM and under the rules of international card schemes such as Visa and Mastercard.
“The prohibition on surcharges is monitored and enforced by banks that provide e-payment facilities to merchants.
“Consumers who encounter merchants that impose surcharges are advised to lodge a complaint with their respective banks or payment card issuers,” BNM said in a statement today.
The central bank was responding to calls by consumer groups to re-look the surcharges imposed on debit and credit card transactions.
Consumers Association of Subang and Shah Alam, Selangor (Cassa) president Dr Jacob George had said the additional cost of using the increasingly popular mode of payment was unfair to users.
Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations (Fomca) vice-president Yusof Abdul Rahman meanwhile said doing away with the surcharges would encourage people to use debit and credit cards as a mode of payment.
BNM said one reason retailers imposed a surcharge was to recover the cost incurred by accepting card payments.
It said retailers are typically charged a transaction fee, known as the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR).
In general, the MDR for credit cards is higher than the MDR for debit cards, it added.
BNM said globally, countries had adopted different approaches in dealing with surcharges imposed by retailers for card payments.
It said in the European Union and the UK, retailers are prohibited from imposing a surcharge on consumers for credit and debit card transactions.
However, in Australia, retailers have the right to impose a surcharge on customers who pay using more expensive payment cards such as credit cards.
In Malaysia, BNM said, it had introduced measures such as the Payment Card Reform Framework and the Interoperable Credit Transfer Framework to lower the cost to retailers when accepting cost-effective electronic payment methods.
“This would in turn lessen the pressure for retailers to impose surcharge on customers.
“To benefit from lower operational costs, retailers are encouraged to accept more cost-effective payment methods, ie. debit cards and mobile payments (instant fund transfers).
“Retailers who cannot afford to pay the higher MDR for credit card are encouraged to liaise with their (respective banks) to accept only debit card payments.”