Real-time payments have reached 96% acceptance among Malaysian merchants, accounting for 27% of in-store transactions, according to research published by Visa.
The US-based payments network released the whitepaper "Strengthening Southeast Asia's Real-time Payments: Security, Trust and New Pathways to Financial Access" on 4 February 2026. The study surveyed small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and consumers across Southeast Asia on payment preferences, operational challenges, and security concerns.
While 38% of SMEs prefer real-time payments for receiving customer funds, 42% of consumers and over one-third of SMEs express concerns about fraud, scams, or misdirected payments in real-time transactions. Card payments, including credit, debit, and prepaid cards, represent 34% of in-store SME transactions in Malaysia, exceeding real-time payment volumes.
Operational challenges limit adoption
68% of Malaysian SMEs report operational difficulties, including payment failures, declined transactions, and reconciliation issues. Additionally, 66% experience customer delays at checkout or requests for unsupported payment methods. Approximately half of merchants not accepting cards reported lost sales from domestic and international customers due to limited payment options.
In cross-border transactions, fewer than 15% of consumers selected real-time payments for their most recent overseas purchase, citing security concerns and transaction irrevocability. 35% of consumers express apprehension about data privacy and cybersecurity, despite nearly half using real-time payments for everyday purchases.
Malaysian consumers perceive debit and credit cards as delivering faster settlements and superior security compared to real-time payments, with gaps exceeding 10 percentage points on factors including customer familiarity and checkout speed.
Visa deploys fraud detection infrastructure
Visa's account-to-account payment solution suite uses adaptive behavioural analytics and AI-driven risk intelligence for fraud detection. A UK pilot identified more than half of fraudulent real-time payment transactions missed by existing detection systems. The solution operates in Argentina with a 73% fraud capture rate.
The platform provides unified risk visibility across participating financial institutions and applies machine learning models to transaction patterns. Real-time payments settle within seconds and are irrevocable, requiring pre-transaction fraud prevention rather than post-settlement dispute resolution.
Visa is expanding QR Connector and Scan to Pay services, linking QR-based transactions to its global network for cross-border acceptance. Visa Pay extends contactless functionality for e-wallet users internationally, while Visa Accept enables merchants to accept digital payments on smart devices without dedicated point-of-sale terminals.
Malaysia expects 47 million international visitors during Visit Malaysia 2026, requiring cross-border payment interoperability for tourism commerce. ASEAN digital interoperability initiatives aim to connect national real-time payment systems across member states.
Real-time payment systems in Southeast Asia include Malaysia's DuitNow, Singapore's PayNow, Thailand's PromptPay, and Indonesia's BI-FAST. These systems enable instant account-to-account transfers using mobile numbers or national identification numbers as payment identifiers.
