How to pay suppliers in Malaysia from the US: dollars or ringgit

USD or MYR invoices: which should you pay?

Start with the currency on the supplier's invoice. Malaysian suppliers invoice foreign buyers in US dollars (USD) or Malaysian ringgit (MYR), and the choice decides which account you pay, which rail you use and who carries the exchange rate risk.

Malaysian rules allow both. Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the central bank, sets the Foreign Exchange Policy (FEP), a set of numbered Notices organized by whether a person is resident in Malaysia. Under the FEP, a resident is free to make or receive foreign currency payments to or from a non-resident for any purpose, except certain derivatives (BNM, payment in foreign currency by residents). A Malaysian supplier can therefore be paid in dollars by a buyer abroad. BNM also permits settlement of trade in goods in ringgit between a resident and a non-resident (BNM, payment in ringgit by non-residents).

The supplier's own obligation is Notice 7. A resident exporter must repatriate export proceeds for goods to Malaysia in full within 6 months from the date of shipment, in ringgit or foreign currency (BNM, FEP Notice 7). Since 15 April 2021, exporters manage the conversion of those proceeds into ringgit according to their own foreign currency cash flow needs (BNM, Liberalisation of Foreign Exchange Policy). So a supplier can hold your dollars in a foreign currency account (FCA) in Malaysia and use them to pay its own suppliers abroad. What it needs from you is payment into its Malaysian account within the 6 months.

One rule applies if you have a presence in Malaysia. Foreign currency payments between two residents are allowed only for purposes BNM lists, so a Malaysian subsidiary or agent of yours pays local suppliers in ringgit.

Sources: BNM, payment in foreign currency by residents; BNM, payment in ringgit by non-residents; FEP Notice 7; as published on 29 October 2026. Check the current Notices before acting.

For goods, either currency works. A ringgit invoice removes conversion from the supplier's side and can support a sharper price; a dollar invoice keeps your books in dollars and suits suppliers that import components in dollars. Settle the currency in the contract, not invoice by invoice, and pay into the supplier's own account in Malaysia rather than an account abroad, so its 6-month clock is met.

Details to collect from a Malaysian supplier

Collect the payment details once, in writing, on the supplier's letterhead or invoice. Malaysian companies often hold a ringgit current account and a separate FCA; Hong Leong Bank, for example, opens business FCAs in ten currencies including USD (Hong Leong Bank). An international wire needs the bank's SWIFT code, the 8 or 11 character code that identifies a bank on the SWIFT network.

Field list compiled by the Helm Editorial Team, as published on 29 October 2026.

SSM is Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia, the Companies Commission of Malaysia, which registers companies. A correspondent bank is a bank that holds an account for another bank and settles payments in its currency. Treat any change of bank details as a fraud risk, and confirm new details by calling a contact you already know. A request to pay an account outside Malaysia also deserves a question, because the supplier's export proceeds for goods must reach Malaysia. Our SWIFT code lookup helps confirm the bank code.

How the money moves: SWIFT, DuitNow, IBG and RENTAS

There are two ways to get money from a US account to a Malaysian supplier.

SWIFT wire. Your bank sends an international wire over SWIFT, the global messaging network banks use for cross-border payments, to the supplier's bank. The dollars settle in the United States on Fedwire, the Federal Reserve's system for large-value transfers, through the Malaysian bank's correspondent. Every SWIFT wire carries a charges instruction: OUR means you pay all bank charges, SHA means each side pays its own bank, and BEN means all charges come out of the amount sent.

Local ringgit payout. A provider with access to Malaysian rails converts your dollars and pays the supplier's ringgit account as a domestic transfer. Wise, for example, lists MYR among the currencies it sends to, within Malaysia (Wise). The domestic leg runs on one of three services. DuitNow transfers are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Interbank GIRO (IBG) is a batch service with a maximum of RM1,000,000 per transaction at CIMB and set crediting windows on business days. RENTAS, the real-time gross settlement system for large ringgit payments, credits the same business day (CIMB, e-payment services and fees).

Sources: CIMB, disclosure requirements for e-payment services and fees; Wise; as published on 29 October 2026. CIMB states that crediting times apply under normal circumstances and that participating banks may change them.

Some buyers are asked to pay in stablecoins such as USDT. Digital currencies and digital tokens that meet the conditions of a 2019 Order are prescribed as securities, and a digital asset exchange must be registered with the Securities Commission Malaysia as a recognized market operator (Securities Commission Malaysia). A supplier paid this way still has to repatriate export proceeds for goods under Notice 7, so pay through the banking channel.

Helm sends international payments to suppliers by SWIFT, and by local rails in the supplier's currency where available, from the buyer's own account, with the rate, fee and expected arrival shown before you send.

Cut-offs and holidays

On the US side, the Fedwire Funds Service day opens at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the previous calendar day and closes at 7:00 p.m. ET, with a 6:45 p.m. ET cut-off for customer transfers (Federal Reserve Financial Services). Your bank's own cut-off for international wires is earlier. Kuala Lumpur is 12 hours ahead of New York in the US summer and 13 hours ahead in the US winter, so a wire sent in a New York afternoon reaches the correspondent overnight in Malaysia.

On the Malaysian side, DuitNow runs every day, while SWIFT credits, IBG and RENTAS wait for a business day. The 2026 national holiday list announced by the Cabinet Division of the Prime Minister's Department puts Deepavali on Sunday 8 November, marked subject to change, and Christmas on Friday 25 December. The list notes that when a holiday falls on a weekly rest day, the following day is substituted, so check whether Monday 9 November is a holiday in the supplier's state (FMM circular on 2026 public holidays). States add their own holidays.

Sources: FMM, 2026 public holidays, national and state (as announced by the Cabinet Division of the Prime Minister's Department); Federal Reserve holiday schedule K.8; as published on 29 October 2026.

Fees as published

A payment to Malaysia can carry four costs: your provider's sending fee, the exchange rate if you convert, intermediary bank deductions on a SWIFT wire, and the supplier's receiving charges. Malaysian banks publish their remittance and e-payment charges.

Sources: Maybank, remittance fees and charges; CIMB, e-payment services and fees; as published on 29 October 2026. Other banks set their own charges.

The domestic fees are small. The larger costs are correspondent deductions on a SHA wire, which leave the invoice part-paid, and the exchange rate on a ringgit payout, where a rate 1% below the market costs $100 on every $10,000. Send dollar wires with OUR charges when the supplier must receive the full amount, and compare the all-in cost, rate plus fee, for ringgit payouts. Helm agrees pricing with each business before the account opens; speak to the team.

Common reasons payments are delayed or returned

Sources: CIMB; BNM, FEP Notice 7; FMM; as published on 29 October 2026.

If a wire has left but not arrived, ask your bank for the UETR (Unique End-to-end Transaction Reference), the tracking code that stays the same along the whole SWIFT chain, and send it to the supplier with your payment confirmation.

Step by step: paying a supplier in Malaysia

1. Agree the currency. Set USD or MYR in the contract, and who pays bank charges.
2. Collect details once. Get the SSM-registered name, address, account number, bank and SWIFT code in writing.
3. Verify by phone. Confirm the details with a known contact before the first payment and after any change.
4. Choose the rail. Pay dollar invoices by SWIFT wire to the FCA; pay ringgit invoices as a local payout over DuitNow, IBG or RENTAS.
5. Check the quote. Compare the rate, fee and expected arrival before you confirm, and send dollar wires with OUR.
6. Time it. Send before your provider's cut-off and away from US, federal and state holidays.
7. Send proof. Share the UETR and SWIFT confirmation, or the payout reference, with the invoice number.
8. Reconcile. Match the payment to the invoice and keep both for your records.

For how your supplier receives and holds dollars, see how to receive USD in Malaysia and USD business accounts in Malaysia.

Questions

References

1. Bank Negara Malaysia: Foreign Exchange Policy, payment in foreign currency by residents
2. Bank Negara Malaysia: Foreign Exchange Policy, payment in ringgit by non-residents
3. Bank Negara Malaysia: FEP rules for residents, Export of Goods (Notice 7)
4. Bank Negara Malaysia: Liberalisation of Foreign Exchange Policy (31 March 2021)
5. CIMB: Disclosure requirements for e-payment services and fees (business)
6. Maybank: Remittance fees and charges
7. Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers: 2026 public holidays, national and state
8. Wise: What currencies can I send to and from?

This guide is general information for businesses, not financial, legal or tax advice. Rules, fees and timings were checked against the sources listed on the review date and may change.