Malaysia implemented a nationwide waiver of the RM1 interbank ATM withdrawal fee starting July 1, 2026. Bank customers can now withdraw cash from any bank-owned ATM in the shared network without paying the fee, covering about 16,000 ATMs or 84% of the total bank and non-bank ATMs nationwide [1, 2, 3, 4]. The roughly 16% of ATMs operated by non-bank private companies remain subject to the RM1 charge due to separate commercial agreements [1, 3, 4].
Authorities urged customers to report any erroneous RM1 charges at own-bank ATMs to Bank Negara Malaysia for enforcement follow-up. Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil said, "If any customer finds that they are still being charged the RM1 fee for withdrawals at bank-owned ATMs, they should report the matter to BNM for further action" [1, 2, 3].
The RM1 fee waiver coincides with the 16th Johor state election, which is scheduled for July 11 with early voting on July 7. A total of 172 candidates are contesting 56 state seats [5, 6]. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim urged Johoreans working in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to return home to vote, emphasizing youth participation. He told voters, "Win or lose, I am still the Prime Minister. I am not saying this out of arrogance, but as a reminder" and "Do not be scared. You need to safeguard your future and the future of Johor" [7, 8].
Communications Minister Fahmi also urged voters living outside Johor to return home, stressing the election's role in national stability and cooperation between state and federal governments. He condemned a fake WhatsApp account impersonating Pakatan Harapan candidate Saiful Nizam Samat for the Endau seat, calling it "the act of irresponsible people" and warning voters to be vigilant against misinformation and digital sabotage in the campaign [5, 9, 6, 10]. The Endau seat is contested by candidates from Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Harapan, Perikatan Nasional, and Parti Orang Asli Malaysia and has about 28,767 registered voters [9].
The Johor election campaign is unfolding amid efforts to manage harmful online content. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) identified 345,712 pieces of harmful content since January 1, involving 19.7 years of total man-hours to process. Communications Minister Fahmi said, "Each piece of content requires supporting documentation and justification explaining why it is deemed harmful... MCMC has utilised a total of 19.7 years of man-hours of working time to process and file content deemed to be harmful" [11, 12]. About 91% of the harmful content relates to gambling and scams, often promoted repeatedly via paid digital ads. The government is exploring agentic artificial intelligence tools to assist MCMC and plans to tighten platform accountability under new online safety laws [11, 12].
Early voting for the Johor election began on July 7 and the main polling day is set for July 11, 2026 [5, 6].
