The central bank said any transaction fee imposed would be “as low as, or lower than, fees imposed on payments using debit cards”. However, the statement did not specify what rate is currently charged.

BNM said major banks and selected third-party financial service providers had already announced that they would continue waiving the DuitNow service fee for micro and small businesses.

These institutions manage 75% of businesses currently accepting payments via DuitNow, BNM said. It said Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet), which operates the DuitNow system, would help to defray the costs incurred by the companies that continue to offer full waivers on DuitNow service fees.

BNM is the major shareholder of PayNet, with 11 major commercial banks holding the remaining shares.

The central bank said the imposition of DuitNow merchant fees would not incur any additional charges for individual customers.

Business using the QR system would save on recurring costs such as rental payments for point-of-sale terminals used for card-based payments, as well as overhead and administrative costs for handling cash payments.

The central bank said these measures will allow micro and small-sized businesses to continue using the DuitNow services at zero cost.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim sought to assure low-income groups that the transaction fee charged to vendors will not be a burden. He added that the decision to lift the waiver was made by BNM.