23/03/2026

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adoption. Yet, the next phase of growth for micro, small, and medium enterprises will depend not on how widely payments are accepted, but on how intelligently transaction data is harnessed. MSMEs contribute 38% of national GDP and employ 48% of the workforce. Any structural inefficiency in how they manage cash flow, financing or operations therefore carries national consequences, not just for individual businesses but for the broader economy. Over the past few years, digital acceptance has accelerated across sectors. QR codes, online transfers and card payments have become commonplace even among smaller merchants. However, adoption alone does not equate to operational maturity. While digital payments are widely MALAYSIA’S digital transformation has entered a decisive new phase. Commerce is expanding across borders, businesses are digitising at unprecedented speed, and consumers are embracing new ways to shop, pay and engage. Yet this evolution brings rising complexity: identity based attacks, increasingly sophisticated fraud, AI driven automation at scale, and a progressively fragmented payments landscape. In this environment, progress in payments can no longer be measured simply by what is faster or more seamless. The real measure is what is secure, reliable, and built to endure. As Malaysia advances towards a digitally led economy, our payments infrastructure must be robust and trusted by design – always on, always secure, and always interoperable. As one of the world’s most connected networks and a longstanding partner in Malaysia’s financial ecosystem, Visa has both the responsibility and the opportunity to strengthen the foundation of digital commerce and help shape the nation’s payments future. As we look ahead, here are the five fundamentals we believe will define Malaysia’s payments landscape in 2026: Security as the foundation for progress Security has shifted from being one element of a payments strategy to becoming its defining pillar. Fraud is no longer limited to compromised credentials or stolen devices; it increasingly emerges through identity attacks, impersonation, social engineering and AIgenerated deception. These threats are targeted, coordinated and persistent – designed not just to steal, but to erode trust in the digital ecosystem itself. When identity is compromised, the effects cascade: consumer confidence weakens, businesses face operational disruption, and trust in digital channels erodes. These are systemic risks requiring ecosystem wide solutions. That is why Visa continues to invest in AI driven risk models, behavioural analytics, tokenisation, and network level intelligence that operate consistently across rails, use cases and borders. Security today is not about reacting; it is about predicting, preventing and protecting at scale, ensuring that every

Trust, security, interoperability matter more than ever

o Payment infrastructure must be robust as digital transformation enters decisive phase

For businesses operating within or adjacent to informal systems, digital payments can serve as the first step toward building a recognised financial footprint. Each recorded transaction contributes to a verifiable income trail, strengthening compliance readiness in areas such as e-invoicing and improving eligibility for credit and other financial services. Without structured data, businesses may remain economically active but financially invisible, perpetuating exclusion and limiting upward mobility. Malaysia now stands at a strategic inflection point. Having achieved scale in digital payment acceptance, the national priority must shift toward depth, integration, and data driven decision-making. If digital adoption stops at the point of payment, SMEs risk remaining connected but constrained, with limited visibility and restricted access authentication and governance play decisive roles in this shift. At any moment, consumers and businesses need confidence that a transaction initiated by an AIagent is authorised, auditable and aligned with their intent. As agent-initiated interactions become more common, the ability to distinguish trusted agents from unknown or malicious automation becomes increasingly critical. toward greater integration – from crossborder QR initiatives to wider Asean connectivity – Malaysia’s competitiveness will depend on secure, seamless interoperability. Visa is committed to enabling this connection in close collaboration with banks, fintechs, merchants, and ecosystem partners, utilising our multirail capabilities and global network to ensure diverse payment systems can work together securely, smoothly and coherently. By working across the ecosystem, we help bridge new payment innovations with established infrastructure, so interoperability can scale without compromising trust. Whether tapping an ewallet, paying by card, or scanning a QR overseas, solutions such as Visa Pay, Visa Accept and Visa Scan to Pay help break down barriers so payments can be completed safely and reliably. Heightened accountability needed With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, commerce is entering an agentic era – where AIpowered systems can be delegated to act on behalf of users, executing tasks such as initiating payments, managing subscriptions, and supporting operational workflows within defined parameters. As automation compresses the distance between decision and execution, payments infrastructure must expand its guardrails to safeguard trust, authenticate, and ensure accountability around every interaction. Identity frameworks,

to capital. If transaction data is activated effectively, however, it can strengthen resilience, close financing gaps and create a more inclusive pathway into the formal economy. The future of Malaysia’s SME ecosystem will not be defined by the number of QR codes displayed at checkout counters, but by how effectively transaction intelligence is transformed into actionable insight. When structured transaction data supports better forecasting, stronger financial identities, and fairer access to capital, digital adoption evolves from convenience to empowerment. That is the true shift from transaction to transformation, and it is essential if Malaysia is to build a digital economy that is not only competitive but genuinely inclusive. Visa has taken a proactive role in helping shape the trust architecture of agent driven payments by launching Trusted Agent Protocol. This ecosystem led framework is designed to help merchants recognise trusted agents and their declared intent by establishing a verifiable trust frame that allows merchants to verify agent identity, intent, and consumer linkage in real time. Strengthening trust in digital currencies Around the world, digital currencies – particularly stablecoins – are being explored as tools to improve the speed and efficiency of crossborder payments. Their role is not to replace existing rails, but to augment settlement capabilities where they add clear, governed value. When safely integrated into the financial system, operating under robust regulatory frameworks, and applied to the right use cases, stablecoins can strengthen the integrity of a payments ecosystem. Against this backdrop, Visa continues to explore tokenised, programmable forms of value as part of a multirail future – ensuring that emerging settlement models are anchored to trusted networks, strong governance and regulatory clarity. In Malaysia, where financial stability and consumer protection are paramount, any adoption of digital currencies – whether for remittances, B2B flows or treasury optimisation – must ensure that value moves through frameworks grounded in governance, transparency and oversight. The future of digital commerce will not be defined solely by the availability of new payment experiences, but by which innovation can endure and operate securely at scale. This article is contributed by Visa Malaysia country manager Previn Pillay ( pic ).

Businesses must be supported with reliable infrastructure that helps them automate payments and reconciliation, manage working capital with precision, transact securely – domestically or across borders – and scale without friction. This is where Visa plays a central role. Through solutions such as Visa Commercial Pay, Visa B2B Connect, and Visa Direct, supported by virtual cards and crossborder capabilities, Visa helps streamline financial operations, strengthen control and reduce risk for companies of all sizes. stability Malaysia’s payments landscape is rich and diverse – cards, wallets, QR, digital currencies and realtime A2A flows all coexist. Innovation has not produced a single dominant rail, and it likely never will. What separates cohesive systems from fragmented ones is interoperability: the ability for data, identity, and money to move, reconcile and transact securely across platforms, rails, and borders. Interoperability is Connecting innovation with

transaction – whether card, account to account (A2A), wallet or realtime – moves through a resilient trust layer. As payment models diversify, Visa’s role is to ensure that security does not fragment. Trust must remain constant, universal and embedded by design. This is the only way Malaysia can scale digital commerce without compromising integrity. B2B payments as engine for digital growth While consumer payments have advanced rapidly, the same cannot always be said for business to business (B2B) payments. Many Malaysian businesses – especially MSMEs – continue to grapple with manual processes, reconciliation delays, limited financing options, and high operational friction. In a region where supply chains and crossborder commerce are accelerating, these inefficiencies pose real constraints. For Malaysia’s 1.2 million MSMEs, access to secure and interoperable payment infrastructure is not merely an operational upgrade – it is a pathway to regional competitiveness. As businesses scale

more than technical connectivity. It is what allows innovation to scale without eroding trust, ensuring that businesses can digitalise confidently and consumers can enjoy seamless continuity, regardless of how they choose to pay and be paid. In a region moving

digitally, Visa’s focus is to ensure they have the tools, data and trust infrastructure needed to thrive. Modernising B2B payments is therefore a

practical necessity for Malaysia’s next decade of growth.

How payment intelligence fuels SME growth MALAYSIA has made meaningful progress in digital payment

same Visa study estimates a US$2.5 billion funding gap for Malaysian MSMEs, largely driven by difficulties in borrowing due to insufficient credit history or formal financial records. Many small businesses generate consistent daily sales yet remain unable to demonstrate their performance in formats recognised by traditional credit models. In this context, digital transaction histories represent an underutilised asset. Structured payment data can offer lenders a more accurate view of revenue stability and cash flow consistency. When analysed responsibly, transaction intelligence enables performance-based assessment that better reflects real business activity. This approach potentially shortens approval cycles, reduces reliance on collateral and expands financing access to viable but previously underserved merchants.

used, only 46% of Malaysian MSMEs have adopted online finance and accounting tools. This gap indicates that many businesses collect payments digitally but continue to manage reconciliation, forecasting and working capital through fragmented and manual processes. This disconnect limits the true value of digitalisation. When transaction data is not consolidated, analysed and translated into insight, business owners lack clear visibility into revenue cycles, peak demand periods, margin fluctuations and liquidity trends. Decisions around hiring, procurement and expansion are then made conservatively, often based on instinct rather than evidence. Over time, this reactive approach constrains growth, reduces agility and weakens resilience against market volatility. The implications are particularly visible in access to financing. The

This article is contributed by Paydibs CEO Tee Kean Kang.