Grab Malaysia will apply a single interest charge of 1.25% a month to all new PayLater instalment plans created from 9 March, according to a report by The Star.

The updated rate will apply to newly set up instalment plans across 4, 8 and 12-month repayment options.

Users with existing plans will not be affected and will continue under the rates that applied when the plans were created.

Before this update, PayLater interest charges varied depending on the instalment length, merchant category and whether the transaction was made online or in-store.

In some cases, four-month instalment plans were offered without interest, particularly for selected merchants or promotional campaigns.

Meanwhile, longer repayment options of 8 or 12 months typically carried about 1.5% per instalment under the previous standard pricing.

Grab also ran promotional campaigns that temporarily reduced the interest for selected online purchases to about 1% per instalment.

From 9 March, these different pricing tiers will be replaced with a single 1.25% monthly rate across all instalment lengths.

As a result, some 4-month instalment plans that were previously interest-free may now incur charges, while users choosing 8 or 12-month instalments may see lower rates than the previous 1.5% charge.

The company said the move is intended to simplify PayLater pricing and create a more consistent experience across both online and in-store transactions.

According to a notice in the Grab Malaysia app, the 1.25% rate will remain in effect until 31 May, with users to be notified ahead of any revisions after that date.

PayLater allows users to split purchases into instalments, with interest charged as part of the cost of providing the credit facility.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Malaysia, based on image by Grab