Cashless transactions are widely used in Malaysia as a form of payment, but a poster circulating on social media claiming that the finance ministry will implement a service charge for Quick Response (QR) code payments from November 1 is false. The Ministry of Finance said the posts were fake, while the central bank told AFP there are no additional charges attached to the transactions.
"Please boycott QR payments. Any premises that do not accept cash payments will be boycotted," says the Malay-language caption of a Facebook post shared on October 18, 2026.
The post shared a purported news graphic with an image of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Superimposed text reads, "Today's top story: service charge for QR code payments starts on Nov 1".
An August 2026 study by Ipsos, a market research firm, found that e-wallets now lead Malaysia's cashless economy, with nearly three in four Malaysians using non-cash payments in the past three months ( archived here).
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Malaysia's central bank -- Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) -- also recorded a 25 percent growth in the use of e-payments, reaching 18.4 billion transactions in 2025, as more people chose fast, convenient and secure payments for daily transactions ( archived link).
Similar posts spread elsewhere on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, with comments by users indicating they were misled.
One comment read, "The government is relying entirely on the people to bear the costs", while another said, "(We will) pay with cash and...
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