Complaining to Bank Negara Malaysia

Step one: finish your bank’s own process first

Bank Negara Malaysia generally expects you to have gone through your bank’s internal complaints process before it gets involved. Ask your bank to log the complaint formally and give you its decision in writing.

This written response becomes the record BNM will want to see, so do not skip this step even if it feels slow.

Step two: prepare what you bring to BNM

Gather your written complaint history, the bank’s response, and a clear, short account of what happened with your scam. Include dates, amounts, and any reference numbers the bank has already given you.

The clearer this record is, the easier it is for BNM to see that you tried to resolve things directly first.

Step three: contact BNM through BNMLINK or BNMTELELINK

Bank Negara Malaysia can be reached through BNMLINK or by calling BNMTELELINK once your bank’s process has been exhausted. This is the formal channel for raising concerns about how a bank has handled your case.

BNM’s role here is closer to oversight of the bank’s conduct and processes than to acting as a claims court for individual disputes.

Step four: understand what BNM can and cannot decide

BNM can review whether your bank followed proper procedure and can raise this with the bank directly. It does not usually award you compensation or decide the outcome of your specific dispute itself.

If your issue needs a binding decision on the dispute itself, the Ombudsman for Financial Services is often the next channel once BNM’s review is complete.

What to do next

Keep every written response from your bank and from BNM in one place, since this record is what any further escalation will be built on. If the scam involved a recent transfer, how a bank recall works is worth reading alongside this.

A police report remains a separate step throughout, regardless of how the bank or BNM process is going.