For years, using the "wrong" bank's ATM in Malaysia cost RM1 a time. That fee is now gone at almost every bank machine in the country, but not at every machine that looks like one. This guide sets out what the banks actually announced, the machines that sit outside the waiver, and the costs the change never touched.

What the banks announced

On 15 June 2026, ABM, AIBIM and ADFIM issued a joint media statement, prepared with PayNet, the operator of the MEPS interbank network. It said that from 1 July 2026, customers of all banks in Malaysia can withdraw cash at any bank's ATM or SRM without paying the RM1 fee. Malaysian debit cardholders gain access to more than 14,000 ATMs and SRMs regardless of which bank issued the card, with unlimited free withdrawals.

The key sentence is a short one: the waiver "applies to ATMs and SRMs operated by banks in Malaysia". Nothing needs to be activated. If your card works at MEPS machines today, the waiver applies automatically.

On 3 July 2026 the three associations followed up, saying the waiver had taken effect smoothly. That second statement added the clarification most people missed the first time: standard fees may still apply when using non-bank ATMs.

The machines that can still charge RM1

Malaysia has a small fleet of ATMs that belong to companies which are not banks. Industry calls them independent or white-label ATMs. They connect to MEPS, so your card works, but their owners were not party to the banks' waiver.

  • Euronet is the largest. It took over 800 MEPS ATMs from PayNet in 2024 (the transfer took effect on 1 April 2024), on top of its own network.
  • Safeguards and Reachful also run machines, according to a SoyaCincau report of 3 July 2026.

These machines tend to sit where bank branches do not: convenience stores, petrol stations, supermarkets and tourist spots. SoyaCincau tried a Euronet ATM inside a 7-Eleven on 3 July and the screen stated that the RM1 MEPS fee still applied. That on-screen notice is your last chance to cancel.

How to tell them apart in two seconds

ABM's own rule of thumb, from the 3 July statement:

  • Bank-operated ATMs show one bank's name and logo, both on the outside of the machine and on the screen.
  • Non-bank ATMs generally show the logos of several banks.

So a yellow machine branded only Maybank, or a red one branded only CIMB, is free for any Malaysian debit card. A free-standing machine covered in a row of bank logos is probably not.

What the waiver does not cover

  • Credit card cash advances. Taking cash on a credit card is a separate product with its own fee and interest from day one. The waiver covers debit card withdrawals only.
  • Withdrawals abroad. Cross-border withdrawals are priced by your bank. As one example, Maybank's official customer-service account stated in December 2023 that it charges RM12 per withdrawal at an overseas bank's ATM, with no charge at Maybank's own ATMs in Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Brunei and Cambodia. Check your own bank's current fee schedule before you travel.
  • Anything other than cash withdrawal. Both statements talk only about cash withdrawals.

What it is worth

If you bank with a smaller bank and withdrew from another bank's machine three times a week, you were paying roughly RM12 a month, or about RM150 a year, in fees that are now zero. The fee was briefly waived once before, during the 2020 movement control order, then brought back. This time the banks have not attached an end date.

If you were charged at a bank's ATM

First check the machine: if it carried several logos, the charge is probably correct. If it was clearly a single bank's machine, keep the receipt or a screenshot of the transaction and contact your own bank first. The 3 July statement points customers to their bank's website, app or contact centre. For general questions you can call ABMConnect on 1300-88-9980 (weekdays, 9am to 5.30pm). If your bank does not resolve a complaint, Bank Negara's BNMLINK takes them on 1-300-88-5465.

Sources: ABM, AIBIM and ADFIM joint statements of 15 June and 3 July 2026 (abm.org.my); RinggitPlus on Euronet's purchase of the MEPS ATMs (31 May 2024); SoyaCincau (3 July 2026); Maybank's official X account (December 2023).

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*Cover image: CIMB, Maybank and Bank Rakyat ATMs at Sibu Airport, by Blusjai, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.*