Wee: Make waiver for DuitNow QR payments permanent

PETALING JAYA: The waiver for DuitNow QR payments should be made permanent, says MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

“The profits of the banks are already very high. They should continue the waiver for DuitNow QR users, most of whom are small merchants who would receive cash payments if they did not use DuitNow QR,” said Dr Wee on Facebook yesterday.

Banks, he said, would also benefit from the reduction in cash handling costs should merchants prefer the DuitNow QR method over cash, adding that this waiver also aligned with the government’s digitalisation efforts.

Dr Wee was responding to a statement from Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet) that a waiver granted on merchant discount rate (MDR) charges for vendors accepting DuitNow QR payments would be lifted on Nov 1.

“If the media, elected representatives and merchants didn’t make noise and protest yesterday, I am confident that the MDR for merchants would have been imposed starting Oct 1 without any due consideration on the part of the banks.

“Congratulations to those who raised their concerns,” he said, adding that pressure must continue to be applied until this waiver is made permanent.

On Wednesday, Dr Wee said the imposition of the DuitNow charges taking effect from Nov 1 was wholly unfair to small businesses or roadside stalls without card payment facilities.

He said this would only discourage the growth of cashless payments and disadvantage the smallest and most vulnerable traders and retailers.

“Considering that DuitNow QR recipients (Boost, GrabPay, Setel and Touch ‘n Go) are small businesses or roadside ‘warung’ without card payment machines, this new DuitNow rate is tantamount to discrimination against them and wholly unfair for these small entrepreneurs.

“At a time of rising costs of living made worse by the effects of inflation, we should not be making seemingly trivial decisions that come with ripple effects to burden the rakyat and cause more inconvenience.

“This will discourage the growth of cashless payments and more likely, vastly disadvantage the smallest and most vulnerable of Malaysian traders and retailers,” he said on Facebook.

Dr Wee said if indeed the MDR for such QR transactions were as high as 0.25%, then it was significantly higher compared to the fees for using debit cards.

“If all this is true and comes to pass, the government must tell us how they are prepared for the repercussions on Malaysians.”

The Small and Medium Enterprises Association said it has been working hard to encourage SMEs to digitise, but charging MDR would be detrimental to its efforts.

The Malaysia Consumers Movement said the transaction fee, if implemented, was a regressive move as the government was encouraging digitalisation, and urged banks to support the government’s efforts in digitalisation.