Agrobank waives DuitNow QR transaction fees

Datuk Tengku Ahmad Badli Shah Raja Hussin said: ”At this juncture, Agrobank will maintain its current fees and charges for all merchants, as practised today."

KUALA LUMPUR: Agrobank has opted out imposing transaction fees rate on payments via the DuitNow QR code platform until further notice.

Agrobank president and chief executive officer Datuk Tengku Ahmad Badli Shah Raja Hussin said: ”At this juncture, Agrobank will maintain its current fees and charges for all merchants, as practised today.

“In the event of any changes or revisions, the bank will ensure proper communication is cascaded to merchants ahead of time.”

DuitNow QR operator, Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet), had clarified that debit and credit card payments are currently subject to a merchant discount rate (MDR), while MDR for QR payments are exempted.

The MDR was previously waived to encourage usage of QR payments during its introduction period in 2019.

However, the waivering of MDR for QR payments was then extended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

He shared: “We believe this decision syncs with the bank’s continuous effort to safeguard the well-being of our customers.

“We want to ensure that the practices are align with the bank’s principles, which is to aid and support our customers encompassing a majority of low-income groups running micro and small businesses.

“We want to be parallel with the evolution of digitalisation in terms of banking and transactions. Rest assured that it is our utmost priority that our customers, merchants and vendors enjoy the conveniences of banking with us in every payment method.”

Agrobank has also launched the Cashless via DuitNow QR on Oct 1.

The campaign, which runs until Jan 31, 2024 is aimed at encouraging and promoting DuitNow QR services to all existing customers as well as to establish cashless community in unserved areas.