8th August 2025 - 2 min read
A total of 168,967 ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ (BNPL) account holders, representing 2.6% of the country’s 6.5 million BNPL customers, had overdue balances as at 30 June 2025, said Deputy Finance Minister Lim Hui Ying.
She said the outstanding BNPL loan balance during the same period stood at RM3.8 billion, accounting for 0.2% of Malaysia’s total household debt.
Lim noted that the amount of BNPL debt that was unpaid or overdue remained manageable, at RM121.8 million or 3.2% of the total BNPL loan balance.
She was responding to a question from Mohd Syahir Che Sulaiman (PN–Bachok) in the Dewan Rakyat on the current status of BNPL debt and the government’s measures to reduce the risk of excessive indebtedness among consumers.
Citing a 2024 study by the Consumer Credit Oversight Board Task Force involving 21,000 active BNPL account holders, Lim said most users demonstrated good financial discipline.
According to the study, Lim said almost 88% made all payments on time, 12% made late but full payments, and fewer than 0.5% were unable to repay their BNPL loans in full.
In response to a supplementary question from Khoo Poay Tiong (PH–Kota Melaka) on safeguarding consumer interests, Lim said the upcoming Consumer Credit Commission (CCC) will adopt a risk-based and proportionate supervisory approach for credit consumers.
The CCC will be established under the Consumer Credit Act 2025, which has been passed but is not yet in force. Once operational, it will oversee BNPL providers and other credit-related entities.
Lim explained that supervision will involve periodic inspections and ongoing monitoring, similar to the methods used by Bank Negara Malaysia and the Securities Commission Malaysia.
The CCC’s regulatory framework will include licensing requirements and conduct standards under the Consumer Credit Act. This will empower the commission to supervise credit providers and credit service providers, ensure fair treatment of credit consumers, improve market transparency, and take enforcement action where necessary.
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Samuel writes about personal finance and financial news, focusing on how banking updates, policies, and promotions affect everyday money decisions. He enjoys making complicated financial topics easier to follow. Outside of writing, he spends his time watching TV shows and occasionally convincing himself he will only watch one episode.
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