LOCAL merchants’ struggles with epayment systems, specifically delays in processing epayment transactions and frequent interruptions of online services, were brought to the attention of the Dewan Rakyat.
Highlighting the matter, Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong (pic) questioned the banking sector’s policy of enforcing a one-day floating period, which holds up the transfer of epayment funds to beneficiaries.
“In an environment where businesses greatly depend on epayment systems, has the government or Bank Negara Malaysia taken a clear position that funds deducted from epayment transactions be promptly disbursed to the recipients, that is, the merchants?
“If payments are processed on Thursday and Friday, a restaurant owner can’t access the funds until Monday, even though the amount has been deducted from the payer.“From a cash liquidity standpoint, this hardly seems fair. With banks accruing billions in profits, why can’t we level the playing field?
“Once a deduction is made, it ought to be available, particularly since these merchants must pay their workers daily,” said Dr Wee, who is Ayer Hitam MP.
He also criticised the reliability of payment systems in the face of the broad uptake of technologies such as ewallets and various digital payment methods, deeming it unacceptable for banking systems to fail or experience unanticipated outages.
“When we go out and park our cars, we encounter issues due to service interruptions.
“I urge the Finance Minister to clarify the government’s stance on the recurring disruptions of online banking services and the extent to which the government is prepared to impose penalties for compromised banking service quality that causes inconvenience to users,” Dr Wee said.
Addressing the concerns, Deputy Finance Minister Lim Hui Ying said epayment transactions are typically instant, but acknowledged that there could be delays during holidays or Sundays.
“As long as a transaction is processed, identified and recorded, it’s considered managed. We will take care of this. We will verify and ensure the transaction days are shortened as much as possible,” she said in response to Dr Wee’s queries.
Lim also said Bank Negara had acted promptly to address service disruptions and had issued directives to banks to strictly adhere to operational standards.
She highlighted the central bank’s powers under the Financial Services Act 2013 and the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013, which allow it to enforce actions on institutions falling short of policy mandates.
“System failures must not surpass the maximum tolerable downtime, affecting customers’ access to transactions,” she said in reply to concerns raised by Dr Wee.
Lim said banks have been mandated to identify the root causes of these disruptions and take appropriate corrective and preventive measures to prevent future incidents.
