Visa Report: Malaysia’s Real-Time Payments Adoption Hits 96%, Driving Demand for Safer, More Reliable, and Seamless Payment Experiences

01/30/2026

  • Over 96% of stores in Malaysia now accept real-time payments (RTP), which make up 1 in every 4 transactions (27%) nationwide.
  • Visa steps in with AI-driven security and multi-rail to support operational pain points reported by 68% of small and medium businesses — including payment failures, settlement delays, and gaps in customer-preferred payment methods.


Real-time payments (RTP) have reached near-universal acceptance by small and medium businesses in Southeast Asia, yet operational and security challenges remain, according to Visa’s latest whitepaper Strengthening Southeast Asia’s Real-time Payments: Security, Trust and New Pathways to Financial Access1. The whitepaper reveals that while 38% of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) prefer RTP for receiving customer payments, 42% of consumers and more than a third of SMEs express concerns about fraud, scams, or misdirected payments in RTP transactions.

As a payment rail enabling near-instant settlements, RTP offers speed and convenience for fund transfers. Across Southeast Asia, faster settlement was the top reason cited for RTP preference. However, this pattern diverges slightly in Malaysia, as debit and credit cards were perceived as delivering faster settlements and access to funds compared with RTP, while also outperforming on security, customer familiarity, and checkout speed — with gaps exceeding 10 percentage points on each factor.

Domestically, while RTP accounts for 27% of SME customer transactions in-store, card payments – including credit, debit, and prepaid cards – still lead at 34%2. This is even lower in cross-border payments: fewer than 15% of consumers selected RTP for their most recent overseas transaction, citing security concerns and the irrevocable nature of transactions.

Visa’s study highlights that at least 1 in 3 consumers (35%) are apprehensive about data privacy and cybersecurity, even though nearly half of surveyed consumers across Southeast Asia use RTP for everyday purchases like groceries and bills in-store and online. These concerns reflect a growing awareness of digital risks and highlight the importance of strengthening safeguards as adoption continues to rise. 

“As real-time payments settle in seconds and are irrevocable, security must come first. Visa’s A2A solution suite leverages Adaptive Behavioural Analytics and AI-driven risk intelligence to help banks and businesses detect scams and fraud in real time — before the damage is done. With custom models, a unified view of risk across participating financial institutions, and global intelligence, the solution continually enhances performance and protection. In a recent UK pilot, Visa A2A Protect identified more than half of fraudulent RTP transactions that were missed by existing detection systems. The solution is also live in Argentina, achieving up to a 73% fraud capture rate,” said Previn Pillay, Country Manager, Visa Malaysia.


Operational and customer issues remain biggest challenge 

For SMEs, internal operational issues remain the biggest challenge, led by payment failures, declined transactions, and difficulties reconciling payments with sales records. Customer-related issues are also significant: 66% of SMEs experience customer delays at checkout or requests for unsupported payment methods. Additionally, around half of card non-acceptors reported lost sales from both domestic and international customers due to limited payment options. 

Previn highlighted: “Improving the day-to-day payment experience is a key priority for SMEs as domestic digital payments continue to scale. As consumers increasingly expect fast and secure ways to pay, businesses need easy-to-reconcile systems that support different preferences without slowing operations. Visa’s capabilities, when used in tandem, address these concerns and reduce payment-related disruptions for businesses and customers alike.” 


Bridging cross-border gaps

As RTP evolves alongside broader regional initiatives and ASEAN’s digital interoperability aspirations, building a secure and inclusive RTP ecosystem will be critical to strengthening SME competitiveness, enhancing tourism readiness, and Malaysia’s overall digital economic growth. With Visit Malaysia 2026 expected to attract an anticipated 47 million international visitors3, interoperability will be key for local businesses to manage and accept foreign payments seamlessly. 

Travellers and international shoppers increasingly expect the ease of paying through smartphone wallets when abroad or making cross border purchases. Visa is meeting this demand by expanding QR Connector and Scan to Pay, which link QR based transactions to its global network so consumers can use familiar, trusted payment methods while merchants enjoy simple, universal acceptance. 

Complementing this, Visa Pay extends contactless tap to pay functionality for e-wallet users across borders, and Visa Accept enables merchants to accept a wider range of digital payments directly on their smart devices — streamlining settlement and reducing reliance on costly point of sale terminals. Together, these integrated solutions help reduce friction, shorten queues, and improve checkout efficiency, making digital payments more seamless for both consumers and businesses.

“Malaysia’s RTP momentum is strong, but the next phase of growth depends on trust, reliability, and interoperability to ensure SMEs and consumers can fully embrace real-time commerce, domestically and beyond. This is a timely opportunity to strengthen the foundations of RTP so that businesses can fully benefit from Malaysia’s rapid digitalisation, while giving consumers the confidence to use real-time payments more widely. In alignment with Malaysia’s national agenda, Visa is well-positioned to help accelerate this vision by reinforcing a secure and trusted RTP ecosystem for all,” emphasised Previn.
 

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1 Strengthening Southeast Asia’s Real-time Payments: Security, Trust and New Pathways to Financial Access is based on the findings of a study conducted by Visa Economic Empowerment Institute (VEEI), in partnership with the Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN) and Nextrade Group, which surveyed over 7,500 consumers and small and medium businesses (SMBs) across six ASEAN markets, including Malaysia.
2 Real-Time Payments Among SMBs in Southeast Asia, August 2025
3 BERNAMA, Govt Targets 47 Mln Foreign Tourists In 2026, Outlines Three Strategies for VM2026, https://www.bernama.com/en/news.php?id=2463151

 

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