FPX vs DuitNow: Malaysia's two payment rails explained
Sep 28, 2026
5 min
FPX is Malaysia's online banking payment system. DuitNow is the country's newer instant payment platform. Both are operated by PayNet, and they are not competing standards. FPX moves money bank to bank when someone pays online or settles a bill. DuitNow powers QR payments, instant transfers by phone number, and cross-border payments. Most Malaysian providers, including Billplz, support both. FPX is not being switched off either, and no end date has been announced. If you are deciding which to offer, the short answer for most businesses is both, and this article explains why.
What is FPX
FPX stands for Financial Process Exchange. It launched in 2004 and has been the backbone of online banking payments in Malaysia ever since.
The flow is familiar to anyone who has bought something online in Malaysia. At checkout, the customer picks their bank, gets redirected to their own online banking login, authorizes the payment, and returns to the merchant's site. Funds move directly from the buyer's bank account to the merchant's account. No card is involved.
Personal accounts can pay up to MYR 30,000.00 per transaction, and corporate accounts up to MYR 1,000,000.00. Either way, the customer's own internet banking limit applies if it is lower.
More than 20 banks participate, which is why FPX coverage feels close to universal.
What is DuitNow
DuitNow is not one product. It is an umbrella covering several services that all run on PayNet's Real-time Retail Payments Platform.
DuitNow Transfer
Instant transfers using a proxy ID instead of a bank account number: a mobile number, an IC number, or a business registration number. This is primarily a transfer service rather than a checkout method.
DuitNow QR
Interoperable QR code payments. One QR code accepts payment from any participating bank or e-wallet app, which ends the old problem of merchants displaying a wall of different QR codes. DuitNow QR reached 3 billion transactions in 2025, double the 1.5 billion in 2024, across nearly 3 million registered touchpoints. It also works in person, which FPX does not.
DuitNow Online Banking/Wallets
Usually shortened to DOBW. This is the online checkout service running on the DuitNow rail, and it covers both bank accounts and e-wallet apps. The flow is close to FPX: pick your bank or wallet, get redirected, authorize. The difference customers notice is authentication, because DOBW approves the payment inside the banking or wallet app without a one-time password.
Banks have moved to it on their own schedules rather than a common date. Maybank switched its checkout interface in March 2025, and Fiuu became the first merchant acquirer to migrate FPX traffic to DOBW in May 2026.
DuitNow Request
Request-to-pay. The merchant sends a payment request that lands in the customer's banking app for approval.
Cross-border DuitNow
DuitNow QR is linked with PromptPay in Thailand, QRIS in Indonesia, and PayNow in Singapore, so visitors can pay Malaysian merchants from their home banking apps. Cross-border payment linkages grew 179% in 2025.
FPX vs DuitNow: key differences
| FPX | DuitNow | |
| What it is | Online banking payment system | Instant payment platform (QR, transfer, request) |
| Operated by | PayNet | PayNet |
| Launched | 2004 | 2018 (DuitNow Transfer); QR expanded 2019 to 2022 |
| How the customer pays | Selects bank, logs in, authorizes | Scans a QR code, approves a request, or uses a proxy ID |
| Authentication | Bank login, OTP where the bank requires it | In-app approval, no OTP on DOBW |
| Transaction limit | Up to MYR 30,000.00 (personal); up to MYR 1,000,000.00 (corporate) | Varies by service and by bank |
| Works in store | No, online only | Yes, via DuitNow QR |
| Cross-border | No | Yes, linked with Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore |
| Acceptance points | Online merchants | Online and physical, nearly 3 million QR touchpoints |
| Settlement on Billplz | Next business day | Next day |
Where they overlap
The overlap is narrower than the names suggest, and sits in one place: online banking checkout.
DuitNow Online Banking/Wallets is progressively replacing FPX for that flow. Both give the customer the same redirect-and-authorize experience, so the change is not something a shopper would notice beyond a different login screen. FPX remains the standard at checkout today.
Outside that one overlap, the two do genuinely different jobs. FPX has no in-store equivalent. DuitNow QR has no bank-login flow. They are complements, not substitutes.
Is FPX being discontinued?
No end date has been announced. PayNet still lists FPX and DuitNow as separate, active services, and no switch-off date has been published.
What is happening is a gradual migration rather than a cutoff. Banks are moving their checkout flow to DOBW on their own schedules, starting with Maybank in March 2025. On the acquirer side, Fiuu became the first to migrate FPX traffic to DOBW in May 2026.
If you accept payments through a gateway, none of this needs action from you. The gateway handles which rail a transaction runs on, and your integration does not change.
Which should your business use
It depends on where your customers pay you, and for most businesses it ends up being both.
Selling online. Bank-login payments are the primary method for Malaysian e-commerce, whether they run on FPX or DOBW. Customers know the flow and trust it.
Taking payments in person. DuitNow QR is the only one of the two that works here. FPX is online-only.
Billing and invoicing. FPX is well established here, where the payer is settling a specific amount.
Serving visitors from Thailand, Indonesia, or Singapore. DuitNow QR, through the cross-border links with PromptPay, QRIS, and PayNow.
A mix of the above. Offer both and let the customer choose. A gateway presents the available methods on one page, so supporting both is a configuration decision rather than two integrations.
There is no winner here. A business that only sells online and one that also runs a physical counter will reach different conclusions, and both will be right.
FPX and DuitNow on Billplz
Billplz is a certified PayNet system integrator and supports both rails. On the Billplz payment page, the customer picks from the methods you have enabled: FPX, Wallet, Card, and Instalments. DuitNow QR appears alongside FPX once it is enabled on your collection, so adding a method is a setting rather than a development project. For what is available, see payment methods, and for settlement timing see pricing.
For the wider picture, Malaysia is phasing out proprietary QR codes covers the regulatory shift behind DuitNow QR, and Malaysia's 2025 cashless data has the full volume breakdown.
FAQs
Is DuitNow replacing FPX?
Progressively, not in a single switchover. DuitNow Online Banking/Wallets is replacing FPX as the online checkout method, but FPX remains the standard at checkout today and no end date has been announced. For merchants, the payment gateway handles the transition, so there is nothing to migrate.
Can I use both FPX and DuitNow QR on my payment page?
Yes. They are separate payment methods that can appear together on the same payment page. On Billplz, DuitNow QR appears alongside FPX once it is enabled on your collection, and the customer chooses which to use.
What is DuitNow Online Banking/Wallets?
DuitNow Online Banking/Wallets (DOBW) is the online checkout service running on PayNet's Real-time Retail Payments Platform, covering both bank accounts and e-wallet apps. The flow is close to FPX: choose your bank or wallet, get redirected, authorize the payment. The main difference is that DOBW approves the payment inside the banking or wallet app without a one-time password. Banks have adopted it on their own schedules rather than on a common date.
Which payment method do Malaysian consumers prefer?
It depends on where they are paying. Bank-login payments remain the default for online checkout and bill payments, while DuitNow QR dominates in-person payments, reaching 3 billion transactions in 2025 according to Bank Negara Malaysia's Annual Report 2025. Malaysia recorded 18.4 billion e-payment transactions in total that year.
Why most businesses need both
FPX and DuitNow are two rails from the same operator, built for different moments. FPX is how Malaysians pay online from a bank account. DuitNow is how they pay by QR, by phone number, and across borders. Neither is going away this year. The question is not which one wins, but which your customers need, and for most businesses that is both.