KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 28 — Public Bank Berhad has announced that it will indefinitely postpone the imposition of transaction fees rate on vendors accepting payments via the DuitNow QR code platform.

In an announcement on September 22, the bank said fees for merchants accepting DuitNow QR (DNQR) payments at their premise will be waived from October 1 until further notice.

Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet) — the operator of DuitNow QR — yesterday clarified that debit and credit card payments were currently subject to a merchant discount rate (MDR), while MDR for QR payments are exempted.

However, subsequent announcement by PayNet over the withdrawal of the MDR waiver for DuitNow QR payments from November 1 onwards invited backlash.

Previously, the MDR was waived as an incentive to encourage use during the QR payment introduction period in 2019.

PayNet said this waiver was extended due to the Covid-19 epidemic. It is neither a new fee nor an additional charge.

Addressing concerns that MDR costs will be passed on to consumers, PayNet explained that purchases using credit and debit cards were already subject to MDR.

Aside from Public Bank, CIMB has also said it would waive the charge until the end of the year.