Which is the Lowest Payment Fee in Malaysia? Comprehensive Comparison & Money Saving Tips

Payment fees are a major concern for many consumers and merchants when it comes to making payments in Malaysia. In this article, we will analyse the fees of the major payment methods in Malaysia to help you find the most suitable and lowest cost payment solution for you.

I. Comparison of fees for bank transfer-type payment methods

1. DuitNow instant transfers

DuitNow is a real-time money transfer system launched by Bank Negara Malaysia, which has become one of the most popular ways to transfer money electronically locally.

• individual user: Completely free of charge (peer-to-peer or cross-border)
• commercial account: Usually charged RM0.10-0.50/stroke
• cutting edge: Real-time payment, coverage of all major banks, no limit of amount

2. IBG (Interbank GIRO) ordinary interbank transfers

IBG is the traditional method of interbank transfers with longer processing times than DuitNow.

• handling fee:: Generally RM0.11/transaction (some banks are free for small transactions)
• processing time: Same day or next day on business days
• Applicable Scenarios: Large transfers that are not urgently needed

3. FPX (Financial Process Exchange) online payments

FPX allows users to make online payments directly from their bank account without the need for a credit card.

• consumer side: Usually free of charge
• merchant side fee::
  • Individual Seller/Micro Business: ~1% (Minimum RM0.5)
  • Large Enterprises: Negotiable to less than 0.5%

Table 1: Comparison of Fees for Major Interbank Transfers in Malaysia

Second, the electronic purse class application fee analysis

GrabPay wallet usage costs in detail:

As the leading super app-embedded wallet in Southeast Asia:

II. Analysis of handling fees for e-wallet-type applications (continued)

1. GrabPay wallet usage costs in detail

As the leading super app-embedded wallet in Southeast Asia, GrabPay has a wide user base in Malaysia:

• top-up fee::

  • Bank account top-up: free of charge
  • Credit card top-up: 1% handling fee charged (waived for some promotional periods)

• transfer fee::

  • Grab inter-user transfers: completely free of charge
  • DuitNow transfer to other bank accounts: RM0.50/transaction

• merchant payment::
  No additional fees on the consumer side, merchants bear approximately 1.5%-2% in transaction fees

2. Touch 'n Go eWallet fee structure

An e-wallet derived from Malaysia's most popular transport card:

• Recharge Channel Rate Differences::
  Debit Card/Online Banking: Free |
  Credit Card: 1% Handling Fee |
  Cash recharge points (7-Eleven, etc.): RM0.50-RM1 per visit

• Feature Charge::
  QR Code Payment (PayDirect): No Handling Fee |
  Cross border remittance to Indonesia/Thailand: Fixed RM10 + 0.5%

Table 2:Comprehensive cost comparison of mainstream e-wallets

III. Demystifying Credit and Debit Card Transaction Costs

Visa/Mastercard channel rate base.
According to BNM's latest Payment Systems Bill.

pie title card transaction rate allocation ratio (%)

"Card issuer revenue":55   

"Acquirers": 25    

"International card organisations (V/M)": 15  

"Gateway service providers":5     

The main charges faced by actual end-users include.

Annual Fee Policy Comparison.
-Maybank Islamic PETRONAS Visa: Lifetime Annual Fee Waiver
-Public Bank Quantum Mastercard: Spend up to the mark waiver
-CIMB Cash Rebate Platinum: Unconditional reduction for the first two years.

Foreign exchange conversion surcharge.
The universal standard is 1% of the transaction amount, but some high-end cards such as the HSBC Amanah MPower Visa Signature can be reduced to zero.

IV. Hidden costs of emerging payment methods

True rate calculation for Buy Now Pay Later service.

Comparative economics of staging programmes using Atome and Splitit as examples.

Assuming that the purchase of RM1200 is to be paid in 3 instalments.

┌──────────┬─────────────┐      

│Platform │Total Capital Cost │       

├óΓé¼┼ô──────────┼ô─────────────┤        

│Atome │RM400+Zero Interest per instalment (But Late Penalty 8%/month)│        

│Splitit │Bundled credit card still generates revolving interest of about 15%/year │         

└──────────┴─────────────┘      

Expert tip: "BNPL products with ostensibly zero interest rates are usually realised through merchant subsidies, which can push up commodity pricing in the long run"

V. Fee-saving techniques for cross-border payments

The optimal choice is illustrated by the Wise vs traditional bank wire transfer case study:

# Modelling the cost of calculating a remittance of RMB 20,000 to China 

def cost_calculation(amount).

    bank_fee = max(20, amount*0.001)+150 # correspondent bank transit fee 

    wise_fee = (amount*100)*0.0075 +9 # at mid-exchange rate

    

print(f "total cost of commercial banks: {bank_fee}") # output results in ≈ RM170    

print(f "Wise total cost:{wise_fee}") # output result ≈ RM84   

Practical verification shows that professional cross-border payment platforms can save at least 40%-60% fees. It is recommended to give priority to Alipay+ and other aggregation solutions for small and high-frequency transactions.