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.

Executive summary

Bank Negara Malaysia issued the Interoperable Fund Transfer Framework (BNM/RH/PD 028-143) on 30 June 2026, replacing the Interoperable Credit Transfer Framework of 23 December 2019. It applies to licensed banks, licensed Islamic banks, development financial institutions, approved issuers of designated…

Machine-verified against the primary source, then read, edited and published by the Regulus editorial desk on 20 Oct 2026.