More Shops To Accept E-Wallets
Growing acceptance: Mobile payment applications are increasingly common, such as Samsung Pay being accepted at this food outlet in Tropicana City Mall, Petaling Jaya.
PETALING JAYA: More merchants will be introducing e-wallet and mobile payment applications to “side-step” credit and debit card surcharges.
The merchants are looking at vcash, Visa Checkout, Samsung Pay, Masterpass and Razer Merchant Services, among other e-wallet applications, to enable customers to enjoy cashless transactions without having to pass the surcharge to them.
Malaysia Retail Chain Association (MRCA) president Datuk Seri Garry Chua said its members were on track in offering cashless payment options.
“Most of our members have already adopted such payment systems for their sales,’’ he added.
Chua said the national economy would greatly benefit from a cashless society.
“We need to keep up with the times, as more and more countries are adopting mobile app payments,’’ he said.
Asked to comment on merchants passing credit and debit card surcharges ranging from 2% to 3% to customers, Chua said this was not an accepted practice in MRCA.
He said while he could understand why some merchants with tight profit margins did so, the MRCA did not condone it.
On Wednesday, Bank Negara cautioned retailers not to pass the surcharge to customers who used credit and debit cards.
Merchants are typically charged a transaction fee, also known as a merchant discount rate.
Bank Negara said consumers could report merchants who imposed such charges to their respective banks or credit card issuers.
Repost from The Star Online