KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 — The Ministry of Finance (MoF), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Securities Commission (SC) are spearheading collaborations with relevant agencies to formulate a comprehensive legal framework to regulate all consumer credit activities, including the "Buy Now Pay Later” (BNPL) scheme.

Deputy Finance Minister II Yamani Hafez Musa said the framework would be set in place with the enactment of the Consumer Credit Act (CCA) this year.

"With the CCA, all credit and BNPL providers will be subject to relevant regulations that also encompass risk control and consumer protection as well as the appropriate Shariah compliance rules in performing BNPL activities,” he said.

He said the government expects to see more new innovations in line with the digital acceleration, and noted that these innovations would need to be well regulated.

Yamani Hafez said this during the Dewan Rakyat sitting today in reply to a question from Lukanisman Awang Sauni (Sibuti-GPS) on the BNPL purchasing method on the online trading platforms.

He stressed that currently, BNPL activities are not being regulated by any agency.

As such, consumers are advised to understand the BNPL’s terms and conditions, ensure that instalment payments are made in full and on time, and monitor their BNPL commitments to ensure that their personal debts remain manageable. — Bernama