Bank Negara mandates interoperable payments and bans proprietary QR schemes by June 2028
Bank Negara Malaysia has replaced its 2019 Interoperable Credit Transfer Framework with a broader regime covering account-to-account transfers, QR purchases and cross-border payments. It routes mandatory traffic through the shared infrastructure operated by PayNet, outlaws proprietary QR schemes, opens access to non-bank regulated entities and codifies consumer protection obligations. Most provisions bind from 30 June 2026, with phased deadlines beyond.
- The framework takes effect on 30 June 2026 and supersedes the Interoperable Credit Transfer Framework issued on 23 December 2019.
- Banking institutions and eligible e-money issuers must not operate proprietary QR code schemes and must fully phase out existing schemes by 30 June 2028, onboarding no new merchants during the transition.
- Financial institutions must offer eligible domestic fund transfers up to RM5,000, funded from current, savings or e-money accounts, free to senders or recipients.
- Operators of the shared payment infrastructure must grant objective, non-discriminatory, risk-based access, including to non-BNM-regulated entities, verified by independent external assessment.
- Cross-border A2A and QR purchase obligations (paragraphs 9.3, 9.4, 9.8, 9.11) are tied to the live operationalisation date of the Nexus scheme, to be announced by BNM.