Pinjaman sewa beli: 14 bank mula tawar kaedah baki berkurangan

Seventeen out of twenty banks in Malaysia have begun offering a new method of interest calculation for lease buyback loans, aligning with the amendment to the Lease Purchase Act. The Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, Sara Hidup, stated that six more banks have committed to transitioning from the traditional average rate method to the new decreasing balance method by end of this year.

Furthermore, 80% of the 429 registered lease-buyback service providers under the Malaysia Lease Purchase Association are in the process of switching to the decreasing balance method and effective interest rates. Twenty percent of service providers have until late March 2027 to complete this transition. All lease-buyback service providers are now required to comply with the new legal mandate under the amended Lease Purchase Act, which abolishes the Rule of 78 for early settlement calculations and replaces it with a fixed-interest rate structure for lease buybacks.

The Rule of 78 is a calculation method used to determine the rebate of interest for early settlement of lease buyback loans, with a significant portion of the interest portion allocated to the early phases of the loan. This system often results in borrowers who wish to settle early facing a disproportionately large remaining balance and does not accurately reflect the true cost of their loan.

Under the mandate of the amended Act, interest rates are now calculated based on the principal balance remaining.