Bank Negara issues Policy Document on Basic Banking Services
15 April 2025
- licensed banks (including licensed digital banks) under the Financial Services Act 2013 (“FSA”);
- licensed Islamic banks (including licensed Islamic digital banks) under the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 (“IFSA”); and
- prescribed institutions under the Development Financial Institutions Act 2002 (“DFIA”) that offer savings accounts and/or current accounts,
(severally an “FSP” and collectively “FSPs”).
In line with BNM’s aspirations in the Financial Inclusion Framework 2023-2026 the Policy Document to strengthen the role and capabilities of FSPs in promoting inclusion in Malaysia, the Policy Document serves to ensure FSPs provide essential Basic Banking Services (“BBS”) at minimal cost to cater to the needs of the more vulnerable segments of financial consumers.
In this regard, the Policy Document aims to:
- ensure FSPs offer basic and low-cost deposit accounts to segments of financial consumers who have been identified as facing challenges in accessing FSPs’ own-brand of current or savings account (“CASA”);
- simplify existing features of BBS and reduce barriers that may prevent this segment of financial consumers from accessing BBS;
- enhance consumer awareness on the availability of BBS offered by FSPs; and
- ensure FSPs abide by the requirements in the Policy Document through the submission of periodic self-assessment reports to BNM.
Effective date and documents superseded
The Policy Document will come into effect on 1 April 2026 and will supersede the following guidelines issued by BNM:
- Guidelines on Basic Banking Services issued on 10 December 2004 (BNM/RH/GL 001-5);
- Guidelines on Basic Banking Services for Islamic Banking Institutions issued on 16 December 2004 (BNM/RH/GL/ 002-3); and
- Guidelines on Basic Banking Services for Development Financial Institutions issued on 15 April 2009 (BNM/RH/ GL/005-8).
The Policy Document is to be read with other relevant legal instruments and policy documents issued by BNM, including any amendments or reissuance thereof, in particular the instruments and documents listed in sub-paragraphs (a) to (q) of paragraph 6.1.
Meaning of financial consumer
For the purposes of the Policy Document, a “financial consumer” refers to any person who uses, has used, or may be intending to use, any financial service or product:
- for personal, domestic or household purposes as defined in section 121(a) of the FSA, section 133(a) of the IFSA and section 42A(a) of the DFIA; and
- a micro or small enterprise as defined in the Guideline for New SME Definition issued by SME Corporation Malaysia in October 20131.
Overview
The areas covered by the Policy Document are as follows:
- Eligibility requirements;
- Features of Basic Savings Account (“BSA”) and Basic Current Accounts (“BCA”);
- Disclosure and promotions requirements;
- Other requirements; and
- Reporting requirements.
Eligibility requirements
Subject to paragraph 11.7
2, paragraph 8.1 of the Policy Document requires all FSPs to offer the following:
- one BSA and/or one BCA to financial consumers who are Malaysian citizens or permanent residents3 who fulfil any of the following criteria:
- individuals aged 60 years and above (senior citizens);
- individuals aged 18 years and above who are:
- persons with disabilities4;
- individuals who do not have income or are in the lower income category;
- not digitally savvy or reside in areas with poor internet connectivity5; or
- full-time students;
- in the case of BSA, to financial consumers who are:
- Malaysian citizen or permanent resident individuals aged under 18 years old6; or
- micro enterprises7 incorporated in Malaysia; and
- in the case of BCA only, micro and small enterprises8 incorporated in Malaysia.
For the purposes of paragraph 8.1 of the Policy Document, all FSPs are required to establish effective policies, procedures and controls to identify financial consumers who are eligible for a BSA or BCA. FSPs shall ensure that the implementation of such policies, procedures and controls must not result in undue constraints or difficulties which lead to the eligible financial consumers being unable to apply for or be offered a BSA or BCA.
In addition, FSPs shall ensure that prospective eligible financial consumers intending to open a new deposit account are made fully aware of the availability of the BBS and shall offer a BSA or BCA as a default to the prospective consumer. However, if an eligible financial consumer decides that the FSP’s own-brand CASA is more suitable for his financial needs, and he is eligible for the FSP’s own-brand CASA, the FSP should allow the prospective financial consumer to apply for the FSP’s own-brand CASA.
Legacy accountholders
FSPs shall retain existing BBS accounts provided to existing BBS accountholders prior to the effective date of the Policy Document based on the features applicable prior to the effective date as aforesaid. However, FSPs are encouraged to reach out to their existing BBS accountholders who fulfil the eligibility criteria in paragraph 8.1 of the Policy Document and inform them on the availability of the new BBS and its features.
Upon request by existing BBS accountholders, FSPs shall migrate such existing BBS accountholders who fulfil the eligibility criteria in paragraph 8.1 to the new BSA and/or BCA with enhanced features as specified in the Policy Document.
Features of BSA and BCA
All FSPs shall offer eligible financial consumers specified in paragraph 8.1 of the Policy Document, a BSA and/or BCA that meets the following features:
| Features |
BSA |
BCA |
| Minimum initial deposit |
Shall not exceed RM20 |
Shall not exceed RM100 |
| Minimum account balance |
Shall not exceed RM20 |
No minimum balance shall be imposed |
| Service fee |
No service or maintenance fee shall be imposed |
No more than RM10 shall be imposed for each half year on BCAs with an average account balance of less than RM1,000 during the half year period |
Minimum interest / profit rate
All FSPs offering conventional BSA shall offer a minimum interest rate of not lower than 0.25% p.a. irrespective of the account balance.
FSPs offering Shariah-compliant BSAs are not subject to the minimum profit rate mentioned above. However, if the Shariah contract adopted by the FSPs for Shariah-compliant BSAs is based on a contract that allows guaranteed returns such as a sales-based contract, FSPs offering such Shariah-compliant BSAs shall offer a minimum profit rate of not lower than 0.25% p.a. irrespective of account balance.
Subject to the 0.25% interest rate thresholds mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, FSPs are required to notify BNM of any revision to the minimum interest or profit rate at least one day before the revision takes effect.
Service channels
FSPs, excluding licensed digital banks and licensed Islamic digital banks (collectively “licensed DBs”), must provide multiple channels to BBS accountholders to conduct their transactions. At minimum, FSPs shall offer access to over-the-counter (“OTC”) and online banking services free of charge. Licensed DBs shall at minimum, offer access to online banking services free of charge. The online banking services offered by all FSPs (including licensed DBs) must provide, at minimum, the following services to BBS accountholders:
- free account enquiry (including but not limited to account balance, printing and downloading of account statement and transaction history);
- funds transfer services in accordance with the requirements in BNM’s Policy Document on Interoperable Credit Transfer Framework (ICTF); and
- free intra-bank bill payment.
Debit cards
To facilitate access to cash and payment services, all FSPs must provide debit cards to BBS accountholders, whilst licensed DBs are to offer virtual debit cards. Physical debit cards and virtual debit cards must be made available without charge.
FSPs are not permitted to impose any fees (including annual fees) for providing BBS accountholders with debit cards. FSPs are also prohibited from imposing fees for replacement of faulty physical debit cards which are not due to the BBS accountholders’ negligence. FSPs are, however, allowed to impose a fee of up to RM12 to replace physical debit cards that are damaged due to the BBS accountholders’ negligence (e.g. debit cards that are lost or damaged due to the consumer’s carelessness).
Cash withdrawal and deposit services
All FSPs, excluding licensed DBs, shall provide cash withdrawal services and cash and coin deposit services to BBS accountholders regardless of whether such transactions are conducted OTC or at the FSPs’ own self-service terminals (“
SST”), cash/coin deposit machines (“
CDM”) or automated teller machines (“
ATM”) without charge. However, cash withdrawals conducted via another FSP’s SST, ATM or CDM shall be subject to the relevant network operators’ rules.
Passbooks or monthly statements
FSPs are required to provide BBS accountholders passbooks or monthly account statements, without charge, that may be in hardcopy or electronic form, in line with the BBS accountholders’ preference. All licensed DBs shall provide, at minimum, monthly account statements without charge in electronic form.
FSPs that provide hardcopy passbooks to BBS accountholders shall allow such accountholders to update their passbooks OTC without charge. Notwithstanding the foregoing, FSPs may impose a fee for the replacement of a passbook due to the BBS accountholders’ negligence.
Cheque books
FSPs that offer BCA, excluding licensed DBs and prescribed institutions under the DFIA, shall provide cheque books with no overdraft facility to BCA accountholders only upon the BCA accountholders’ request. FSPs shall not impose any fees on the issuance of the cheque book, except for stamp duty charges. However, the cheque fees imposed by FSPs shall be in accordance with BNM’s Specification Letter on Measures to Reduce Cheque Usage for the Banking Sector issued on 30 June 2023 or any revisions or documents which supersede it.
Imposition of fees
FSPs shall ensure the imposition of fees, other than those regulated under the Policy Document
9, is made in accordance with BNM’s Guidelines on the Imposition of Fees and Charges on Financial Products and Services issued on 10 May 2012 and the amount to be imposed shall not exceed actual costs incurred by the FSPs. FSPs are required to obtain BNM’s approval prior to any upward revision of existing fees and charges or any introduction of new fees and charges to be applied on its BSA and BCA products.
Disclosure and promotions requirements
FSPs are required to promote the availability of BBS in a prominent manner in their websites and branches, with information on the availability, features and benefits of BSA and BCA. Such information is to include, but not limited to:
- interest/profit payable on a BSA (where applicable);
- fees and charges for services offered via BBS;
- fees and charges incurred on contingency cases (such as dormant or closure of accounts);
- key features of the BBS;
- documents required to open BBS accounts; and
- procedures applicable when applying for BBS.
FSPs must also ensure that their frontline staff:
- are able to effectively promote and respond to queries from eligible financial consumers relating to BSA and BCA; and
- are adequately trained to identify eligible financial consumers and provide proper advice relating to the terms and conditions, features and benefits of BBS to eligible financial consumers and to provide guidance on opening of BBS accounts.
Other requirements
Dormant accounts
FSPs shall treat any BSA or BCA which has not been operated in whatever manner by the BSA or BCA accountholder for a continuous period of one year as a dormant account. Upon so treating a BSA or BCA as dormant, FSPs shall:
- close the dormant account if the balance in the account is RM10 or less and absorb the remaining balance as charges; or
- charge an annual service fee of not more than RM10 until the remaining balances in the dormant account are zeroised and closed or considered as “unclaimed moneys” under the Unclaimed Moneys Act 1965.
If a BSA or BCA accountholder decides to reactivate his dormant account before such account is zeroised or considered as “unclaimed moneys”, the FSP shall allow the accountholder to do so without imposing any reactivation fees.
Closure of account
FSPs shall allow BSA or BCA accountholders to withdraw up to the ‘last sen’ of the money upon closure of their BSA and/or BCA. Notwithstanding any provision in the Policy Document, FSPs may impose a fee not exceeding RM20 for BBS accounts that are closed within three months from the account opening date.
Refusal to offer BSA or BCA
Where a FSP decides not to allow the opening of a BSA or BCA for eligible financial consumers, it must inform them on the reasons for refusal and the available channels for submitting enquiries or complaints, such as the FSPs’ customer service channel or BNMLINK.
Reporting requirements
All FSPs are required to submit to BNM, the Statistics on Basic Banking Accounts in the format set out in Appendix 1 of the Policy Document on a biannual basis, and to submit self-assessments on their compliance with the requirements of the Policy Document in the format set out in Appendix 2 of the Policy Document on a biennial basis, with the first report being due by the end of the second year after the effective date of the Policy Document.
Comments
The Policy Document consolidates the requirements under the three sets of guidelines that are to be superseded upon the Policy Document taking effect. The Policy Document is part of BNM’s initiatives to make BBS available to the unserved and underserved segments of the Malaysian population on an affordable basis. The Policy provides clear guidance to FSPs as to the terms and conditions on which such services are to be provided to eligible financial consumers.
It is to be noted that the Policy Document stipulates that a qualifying criterion for a BSA and/or a BCA is that the financial consumer must be a citizen or permanent resident of Malaysia. Given the large number of foreign workers in Malaysia, BNM should consider whether this category of workers should be included in the underserved or unserved segment of society to whom BBS should be extended.
Article by Hafidah Aman Hashim (Partner) of the Islamic Finance Practice and Lee Ai Hsian (Partner) of the Banking and Finance Practice of Skrine.
1 The adoption of this definition has been specified by BNM pursuant to sections 121(b), 121(c)(ii) and 123(3) of the FSA, sections 133(b), 133(c)(ii) and 135(3) of the IFSA and sections 42A(b), 42A(c)(ii) and 43C(3) of the DFIA.
2 The contents of Paragraph 11.7 are set out under the sub-heading “
Refusal to offer BSA or BCA” of this article.
3 Paragraph 5.2 of the Policy Document defines a “permanent resident” to mean any person who has been issued with an identification card by the Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara that identifies the person as a permanent resident of Malaysia and remains valid.
4 The term “persons with disabilities” has the same meaning assigned to it in the Persons with Disabilities Act 2008. FSPs may rely on, but not limited to, the
Orang Kurang Upaya (OKU) card issued by the relevant authorities under the Malaysian Government to affirm a person is disabled. FSPs may also refer to BNM’s Policy Document on Fair Treatment of Financial Consumers issued on 6 November 2019 on further guidance to verify the disability of a person.
5 FSPs may determine a financial consumer’s digital savviness by enquiring the consumer’s ability and level of comfort to routinely access banking services via digital channels, during the account opening process. FSPs may refer to the
FAQ on Policy Document on Fair Treatment of Financial Consumers for further guidance.
6 As minors may not be competent to enter into a contract on their own, FSPs shall establish appropriate means to ensure minors would still be able to open a BSA, for example, via custodial accounts under a guardian or parent.
7 As defined in the Guideline for New SME Definition issued by SME Corporation Malaysia.
9 For example, courier fees for sending ATM cards and fee for cross-border transactions.
This alert contains general information only. It does not constitute legal advice nor an expression of legal opinion and should not be relied upon as such. For further information, kindly contact skrine@skrine.com.