RHB Pay Goes Live: Malaysia’s First Bank-Owned Payment Gateway
RHB Bank has launched RHB Pay, which it describes as Malaysia’s first bank-owned unified online payment gateway — putting a licensed bank directly into a space that has largely been the territory of independent fintech aggregators.
What it does
RHB Pay gives businesses a single gateway to accept three of the country’s core payment methods:
- Card payments
- FPX (online banking transfers)
- DuitNow Pay
Funds settle directly into RHB accounts, and the platform ships with automated reconciliation — trimming the manual back-office work of matching payments to invoices. Under the hood, RHB Pay runs FPX and DuitNow Pay over PayNet’s national payment rails, the same infrastructure that underpins Malaysia’s cashless system (see our explainer on how Malaysia’s payment system works).
Who it’s for
The gateway is aimed at mid-sized enterprises, commercial businesses, corporates and government-related institutions — not the pasar malam micro-merchant, but the tier of business that values settling into a bank it already trusts.
That’s the pitch RHB is leaning on. “As a bank-owned solution, RHB PAY offers businesses greater assurance over the security of their funds and payment data,” said Dato’ Mohd Rashid Mohamad, Group Managing Director and Group CEO of RHB Banking Group. “Backed by RHB’s banking infrastructure, governance standards and regulatory oversight, the platform enables businesses to transact with confidence.”
Why it matters
Malaysia’s checkout layer has long been served by third-party payment gateways that sit between the merchant and the bank. RHB collapsing that stack into a bank-owned product is a notable shift: for a corporate treasurer, “the gateway is my bank” is a compliance and settlement story as much as a technology one.
The backdrop is a market moving fast. Malaysia recorded 18.4 billion e-payment transactions in 2025, up 25% from 14.7 billion in 2024, according to Bank Negara Malaysia — the kind of volume that makes owning the checkout rail strategically attractive for an incumbent bank.
PayNet, whose rails power the FPX and DuitNow Pay legs, welcomed the move. “RHB PAY is a bold step by RHB to create new value for its business and enterprise customers through a unified payment gateway,” said Praveen Rajan, CEO of PayNet. “It shows how established financial institutions can unlock new growth opportunities by responding to evolving customer needs.”
What’s next
RHB has flagged a second phase, targeted for Q4 2026, that widens the gateway to:
- E-wallets
- QR payments
- Direct Debit
- Auto Debit
If delivered, that would take RHB Pay from a card/FPX/DuitNow acceptance tool to a near-complete acceptance suite — and put a bank-owned option squarely in front of the independent gateways that have historically owned Malaysian online checkout.
FinDeskAsia tracks Malaysia’s payments infrastructure. New to how it all fits together? Start with How Malaysia’s Payment System Works and Payment Gateways in Malaysia.
