PETALING JAYA: With the increasing use of epayments, banks should no longer use public holidays and weekends as an excuse to delay payments to merchants, says MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
"After all, banks do not stop charging interest on loans during public holidays and weekends, so why should they benefit from the free float when they delay payments to merchants?" wrote Dr Wee in a Facebook post on Friday (Jan 26).
He explained that there would be 104 Saturdays and Sundays in 2024 and up to 25 days of federal and state public holidays this year.
"The total epayments that go through the banking system is about RM1.4 trillion.
"So the banks make a lot of money from the free float from delaying payments to merchants on top of the merchant fees when collecting epayments," said Dr Wee.
"I urge the government to make it mandatory for all banks to pay merchants within 48 hours of receiving payments.
"This will increase cash flow for merchants, and the economy will benefit from increased cash flow," he said.
