Bank Negara Malaysia today issued the Payment Card Reform Framework (Framework) as a standard under the Financial Services Act 2013 and the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013, with the objective of fostering an efficient, transparent and competitive payment card industry in Malaysia. The Framework incorporates the proposals set out in the Concept Paper issued on 10 October 2014, while also taking into account the feedback received during the consultation process.

The Framework seeks to ensure that the cost of accepting payment cards is fair and reasonable through the establishment of an objective and transparent mechanism for the reimbursement of fees among payment card network participants. Under the Framework, ceilings are imposed on interchange fees payable by the acquiring banks to the payment card issuing banks. As the interchange fees are reflected in the merchant discount rates (MDRs) paid by merchants, the ceilings would address the risk of escalation in the MDRs due to indiscriminate increases in interchange fees. As a general principle, the interchange fee ceilings for debit card based on its eligible cost components are much lower than that of credit card. This principle makes the debit card a more cost-effective payment instrument to facilitate greater card acceptance especially among small merchants.

The Framework also introduces a series of measures which are designed to address other distortions in the payment card market in order to promote greater usage and acceptance of cost-effective payment cards. Such measures would improve the price signals and empower merchants to accept cost-effective payment cards.

The Framework would be implemented in phases commencing from 15 January 2015, with the majority of the measures including the interchange fee ceilings, becoming effective on 1 July 2015.

For further information on the Framework, please refer to the frequently asked questions (FAQs) and the standard available at the Bank Negara Malaysia's website at www.bnm.gov.my.

See also:

• Payment Card Reform Framework
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)