Malaysian ringgit, cash, cards and QR payments
The official currency is the Malaysian ringgit, with the international currency code MYR and symbol RM.
Current banknotes include:
- RM1
- RM5
- RM10
- RM20
- RM50
- RM100
Coins are issued in 5, 10, 20 and 50 sen denominations. Bank Negara Malaysia is the sole issuer of Malaysian currency.
Visa and Mastercard are widely accepted at hotels, shopping centres, supermarkets, restaurants and larger businesses. Contactless payment is also common.
Cash remains particularly useful for:
- hawker centres
- night markets
- kopitiams and small cafés
- street-food stalls
- small independent shops
- some taxis
- rural areas and smaller towns
Recent travellers report using cards for most larger purchases while keeping cash specifically for local food, street stalls and smaller shops.
Malaysia also makes extensive use of DuitNow QR and local payment apps such as Touch ’n Go. Malaysians may simply scan a QR code even at very small businesses.
For tourists, however, QR payments can be slightly more complicated. Some foreign apps can now connect to DuitNow, while others require local registration or a Malaysian phone number. Recent visitors have reported occasions where a small merchant accepted QR payments but not a conventional foreign card.
That makes ringgit cash a particularly useful fallback.
For most visitors, the practical combination is some Malaysian ringgit cash plus a suitable Visa or Mastercard.
Over the past 30 days, the pound has been steady against the Malaysian Ringgit. The best Malaysian Ringgit rate moved from 5.2032 on 15 October 2026 to 5.1932 on 13 November 2026.
This means £1 buys less Malaysian Ringgit today than it did at the start of the period.
On a £750 purchase, you would receive about RM3,894.90 today, around RM7.50 less than on 15 October 2026.
Malaysian Ringgit rates moved around during the month, ranging from 5.1847 on 12 November to 5.2544 on 4 November. That shows why checking live rates before you buy can make a real difference.
Last refreshed at 12:00 on 13 November 2026.