Payments Network Malaysia: Delivering The Next Generation Of Real Time Payments

It is not often that Celent awards Model Bank recognition to a Financial Infrastructure. They are usually given as a result of a technology initiative within a bank, and which sets that bank apart from others. PayNet is not a bank, nor is it setting itself apart. Indeed, it is providing a level playing field for all.

Perhaps a better analogy and a reason why PayNet received the award is because they are building a future-proof foundation for things to be built upon for everyone. By ensuring reach by explicit expansion of their ecosystem, and simpler ways to assure the platform can evolve, banks can focus on what they do with it and how they better serve the customer going forward.

A number of other points also stood out about the initiative. The time from selecting the vendor to launching with the majority of the country’s banks was just eighteen months, something that is almost unique globally. The rapid uptake of the service has been impressive, with volumes already on track to reach nearly 350-400 million per month by 2024. Yet it is equally for the breadth, depth, and range of services launched or on the road map. Celent has often written that current real time payment systems should be seen as a starting point, not the end point. Even systems only a decade old have experienced rapid changes in what is now seen as a basic system. Many countries still discuss with Celent viable use cases for usage even after their network is launched, whereas Malaysia has moved far beyond those discussions.

The result is one of the most future proof, inclusive, and flexible real time payment system Celent has seen. While PayNet’s goals may not suit every country, there are many aspects that any real time payment system could learn from.