Asia-Pacific · GDP rank #35

Malaysia

MY · MYR @ 0.2532/USD

Malaysia ran the highest-velocity DuitNow rollout in ASEAN. PayNet cleared 8.44bn digital transactions in 2025 (+34% YoY), DuitNow QR alone doubled to 3bn, and the country operates the densest ASEAN cross-border QR mesh (live with SG, TH, ID, CN, KH; IN expected 2026). Malaysia is one of the five founding-country IPSs inside the BIS Project Nexus Scheme Organisation. BNM's five licensed digital banks are now in operational years two and three; the Securities Commission frames stablecoin and tokenised-deposit policy.

Tab 05

Cross-border

Inbound and outbound remittance corridors, tourism flows, FX markup on retail cross-border, and the country's posture on stablecoin adoption. Corridor figures come from the World Bank RPW feed or the publishing central bank; both are cited when they disagree.

Remittance inflows

US$1.8B

USD · 2024

Remittance outflows

US$9.1B

USD · 2024

Net sender; outflows dominated by migrant workers in oil & gas, plantations and electronics manufacturing remitting to ID, BD, PK, IN, NP.

Inbound tourism spend

US$22.5B

USD · 2024

Outbound tourism spend

US$12.4B

USD · 2024

Avg. corridor cost

2.4%

% · Q4 2024

Cross-border QR corridors (SG, TH, ID, CN, KH) at sub-1.5%; Wise MY and BigPay sub-1% on major routes.

Net position

Net sender

Top inbound corridors

SingaporeUS$0.6B
via bank
United KingdomUS$0.3B
via bank

Top outbound corridors

IndonesiaUS$3.2B
via MTO
BangladeshUS$1.2B
via MTO
PhilippinesUS$0.8B
via MTO
IndiaUS$0.6B
via MTO

Cross-border card

Card flow leaving and arriving

Cards issued domestically and used abroad reflect outbound consumer travel and cross-border e-commerce; volume acquired from abroad reflects inbound tourism and foreign online shoppers.

Issued volume spent abroad

US$12.4B

USD/year · 2024

Acquired volume from abroad

US$22.5B

USD/year · 2024

FX cost

What consumers pay above the interbank

Retail FX markup is the spread between the mid-market rate and the rate the consumer receives — the single largest friction point in small-ticket cross-border.

FX regime: managed-float
Reference: Ringgit managed float against a trade-weighted basket; BNM intervenes to smooth disorderly markets. Onshore ringgit market for residents; non-residents access via offshore non-deliverable rates.

Source · Bank Negara Malaysia

FX markup not reported.

Full reference

Remittances

Net Position: sender

Source:

Kpis

Cross-border QR transactions

transactions/year · 2025

29.7M+150%