PayNet and DuitNow: Malaysia's National Payments Infrastructure

Scan a QR code at a nasi lemak stall in Kuala Lumpur, pay a friend by keying in their phone number, settle a bill through online banking — all three journeys quietly pass through the same company. It is called PayNet, and most Malaysians have never heard its name.

What exactly is PayNet?

Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet) describes itself as “the national payments network and central financial infrastructure for Malaysia.” It was formed on 1 August 2017 through the merger of two older operators — the Malaysian Electronic Payment System (MEPS) and the Malaysian Electronic Clearing Corporation (MyClear) — bringing the country’s high-value and retail payment systems under one roof.

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the central bank, is PayNet’s largest shareholder. In a December 2025 parliamentary reply, the Ministry of Finance put BNM’s stake at 35.5% and said the central bank was drawing up a long-term plan to gradually reduce that shareholding, to widen industry participation in the national payments operator. The remaining shares are held by 11 Malaysian financial institutions, including Maybank, CIMB and Public Bank. Because ownership is shared across the industry rather than held by any single commercial player, PayNet is structured to run as shared, non-competitive infrastructure rather than as a rival to its member banks.

What does PayNet actually run?

PayNet operates the rails; the banks and e-wallets you use are the apps sitting on top. The best-known service is DuitNow, which by PayNet’s own timeline launched nationwide in 2018 on the Real-time Retail Payments Platform (RPP) and lets you send money instantly using only a mobile number or MyKad instead of a long account number.

Service	What it does
DuitNow Transfer	Instant fund transfers using a phone number, MyKad or account number
DuitNow QR	The national QR standard (launched 2019); one merchant code works across banks and e-wallets
DuitNow Request	Request-to-pay — send someone a payment request they approve in their app
FPX	Real-time online-banking payments for e-commerce and government portals
JomPAY	Standardised bill payments via biller codes
MyDebit	Malaysia’s domestic debit-card network
RENTAS	The high-value real-time settlement system for large interbank and securities transactions

Why does interoperability matter?

The whole point of a shared network is that you should not need to care which bank or wallet the other person uses. DuitNow QR is deliberately interoperable: a single merchant QR code can be scanned by Touch ‘n Go eWallet, GrabPay, Boost or any participating bank app.

That design is now becoming mandatory. To stop the market fragmenting into walled gardens, BNM has ruled that proprietary QR code networks must be discontinued by 30 June 2028, after a two-year transition during which affected operators cannot onboard new merchants. The goal, in BNM’s words, is an environment where all QR payments in Malaysia are interoperable.

How widely is it used?

The adoption curve has been steep. Usage of the DuitNow platform grew roughly 30-fold, from 110 million transactions in 2019 to 3.5 billion transactions in 2024. By BNM’s measure, every Malaysian now makes at least 1.5 electronic payment transactions per day. On the acceptance side, PayNet reported more than 2.9 million DuitNow QR merchants across Malaysia, from tourist attractions to warung stalls.

What about paying across borders?

DuitNow QR increasingly works beyond Malaysia’s borders. PayNet has built cross-border QR links so that a Malaysian traveller can scan foreign codes — and foreign visitors can scan Malaysian ones — with the exchange handled automatically. In February 2026 PayNet signed an agreement with India’s NPCI International to connect DuitNow QR with India’s UPI network, rolling out in two phases ahead of Visit Malaysia 2026.

What does it cost merchants?

For small transfers between individuals, DuitNow is generally free. Merchant acceptance carries a fee. As reported when the fee structure drew public debate, DuitNow QR payments funded from a bank account are charged 0.25% of transaction value, while credit-card-funded QR payments are charged 0.5%. Personal transfers above RM5,000 made through a personal QR code attract a flat RM0.50. Individual banks have at times waived or postponed passing these fees to customers.

What’s next

DuitNow QR’s national-standard mandate takes full effect at the 30 June 2028 deadline, so expect proprietary QR schemes to fold into the shared network before then. Cross-border corridors are expanding — India joins existing links with regional neighbours — which matters for travellers and tourism-facing businesses. Ownership may also shift: BNM has signalled it intends to gradually pare back its majority stake to bring in more industry participants. If you run a shop, confirm your acquirer’s DuitNow QR fees and settlement terms; if you are researching Malaysia’s fintech landscape, PayNet is the layer beneath almost every consumer payment app. For the authoritative operator view, see PayNet’s own site and Bank Negara Malaysia’s payment-systems pages.