Can my existing coin or token laundromat machines accept DuitNow QR payment?

Yes. An existing coin-operated or token washer or dryer can be retrofitted to take DuitNow QR from a customer's e-wallet or banking app instead of being replaced. A QR code on its own only takes the money, so the upgrade adds an IoT device that lets a confirmed payment start the machine. Byte Bunny Technology does this for laundromat owners; confirm each machine model with it first.

This guide is for self-service coin laundry (dobi layan diri) owners who run coin or token washers and dryers and want customers to pay by scanning a QR code. It explains what turning a shop into a cashless laundromat involves, what the customer does at the machine and what to check first. For the wider picture, read Byte Bunny's full guide to taking a coin or token laundromat cashless.

Can a coin-operated or token washer accept DuitNow QR without being replaced?

Yes. A coin-operated or token washing machine or dryer can be retrofitted to accept DuitNow QR, so the machine stays and only the way it is told to start changes. Byte Bunny Technology installs an IoT device, a small internet-connected unit, into a laundromat owner's existing machines so each can accept DuitNow QR payment. When a customer scans and pays, Byte Bunny's servers start the machine, as a coin or token does today.

Byte Bunny Technology Sdn Bhd, based in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, is backed by a team with more than 10 years of experience in the e-wallet automation industry, and laundromats are its main focus. It provides the payment system as a software service to laundromat owners, including owners whose machines previously took tokens or cash.

A QR upgrade changes how a laundromat machine is paid for and started, not how it washes or dries. Whether a particular washer or dryer can be upgraded is confirmed machine by machine, before you commit.

Why can't I just stick a DuitNow QR code on the machine?

A DuitNow QR code on its own cannot start a laundromat washer, because a plain DuitNow QR only moves money to the merchant. In the flow set out by Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet), the customer scans the merchant's QR, keys in the amount and pays, and it is the merchant who is told the payment succeeded. At an unattended washer, someone would have to check every payment and amount, then start the machine by hand.

PayNet's developer documentation states the step plainly: the acquirer, the bank or payment provider that processes the merchant's payments, "notifies Merchant on successful QR Payment status". The same documentation says a merchant's QR can be "generated statically or dynamically", and that for a dynamic QR the acquirer must check a validity period.

For a laundromat owner, the practical point is this: at an unattended machine, the deciding question is not static or dynamic but where the payment confirmation goes. A QR that pays your bank account tells a person; a QR linked to the machine tells the machine.

How do customers pay by DuitNow QR or e-wallet at an upgraded washer or dryer?

At an upgraded washer or dryer, a customer pays by DuitNow QR in three steps, as Byte Bunny's own how-to films show them: open an e-wallet or banking app, open the app's scanner and scan the QR on the machine, then pay the machine's price. The machine starts once the payment goes through, so there is no coin to find and no token to buy first.

1. Open your e-wallet or banking app. The Malay caption on Byte Bunny's washer film reads "Buka apps e-wallet".
2. Open the scanner and scan the QR on the machine. In the film: "Buka scanner dan scan QR".
3. Pay the machine's price. In the film: "Bayar ikut harga mesin basuh". The machine then starts.

Byte Bunny's films cover both kinds of machine: the 31-second How to pay using DuitNow QR - Washer and How to pay using DuitNow QR - Dryer, both captioned in Malay. Its English-captioned film How to use Electrolux dryer in self service laundry opens with "Open our Bank apps", so a banking app works too.

Malaysian customers already know the scan-and-pay steps from paying elsewhere. Bank Negara Malaysia's Annual Report 2025 records that DuitNow QR transaction volume doubled to three billion in 2025, from 1.5 billion in 2024.

For the customer, Byte Bunny's benefits are hassle-free payment with no apps to download, many e-wallet payment methods, and no need to bring cash. The customer's side is shown step by step on how paying by QR works at the machine.

Are Malaysians ready to pay a laundromat by QR?

Malaysians are ready to pay by QR: Bank Negara Malaysia reports almost three million registered DuitNow QR touchpoints across Malaysia at the end of 2025, up from 2.6 million in 2024, and each Malaysian made 538 e-payments on average in 2025, up from 432. In 2019, Visa's Ng Kong Boon called the laundromat industry "a heavily cash-based merchant".

Small businesses are a large part of Malaysia's DuitNow QR growth. PayNet processed 8.44 billion digital payment transactions in 2025, and 267,780 of the 681,250 new DuitNow QR acceptance points added that year were at micro, small and medium enterprises, PayNet reported in April 2026.

PayNet's chief executive, Praveen Rajan, said that "digital payments are becoming the preferred payment method across consumers, businesses and public services". The terms used here, from DuitNow QR to IoT device, are explained in the cashless payment glossary.

What changes for me as the laundromat owner?

For a laundromat owner, the main change after a QR upgrade is cash: a washer paid by DuitNow QR collects less cash to empty, count and protect. Bank Negara Malaysia puts the general point plainly in its Annual Report 2025: "lower cash handling mitigates operational and security risks."

Byte Bunny's benefits for owners are reduced overhead costs, preventing break-ins, machines that can be remotely activated, monitoring of cash sales and e-wallet sales, and alternative payment methods for customers. More on each is on the page about what owners get from a cashless laundromat.

In January 2025, police arrested two men over 19 self-service launderette break-ins, robberies and vehicle thefts across Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Perak, Bernama reported. The estimated loss across the whole spree was RM117,000, and police seized different types of laundromat tokens. Fewer coins inside an unattended machine means less to collect after hours and less to steal.

Any cashless option also cuts the time spent counting coins. When Visa brought contactless card payments to a Malaysian laundromat chain in 2019, its country manager for Malaysia said:

"For the merchant, labour hours required to count the cash collected at the machines are significantly reduced, and the staff can make better use of their time in managing their workload."

What should I check before upgrading my machines?

Before upgrading coin or token machines to DuitNow QR, check three areas: your machines and their condition, how the payment system will work day to day, and how customers will learn the new way to pay. A provider can only confirm an upgrade for machines it knows about, so the list of machines comes first, ideally with a photo of each machine's coin or token slot and model plate.

1. List every machine. Washer or dryer, brand and model, and whether it takes coins or tokens today. Ask the provider to confirm each one before you agree to anything.
2. Repair what is already faulty. A washer with a faulty door lock, drain or heater will not run better on QR. Fix it first, so the upgrade is not blamed for an old fault.
3. Ask what it costs. Ask what the upgrade costs for your machines, up front and ongoing, and get it in writing before you agree.
4. Ask about the connection. An upgraded machine is started remotely after a QR payment, so ask what connection the devices need in your shop and what happens to a payment if the line drops.
5. Ask how a failed start is handled. If a customer pays and the machine does not start, or pays the wrong amount, who refunds them, and how quickly?
6. Ask where the QR takings go. Which account receives the payments, and how often are they paid out?
7. Ask how long each machine is out of service. Plan the installation for quiet hours so the shop keeps running.
8. Decide what happens to cash. Ask whether coins or tokens will still be accepted alongside QR, and how cash sales and QR sales will be reported together.
9. Plan how customers will learn it. Customers follow what they see on the machine. Ask how the three payment steps will be shown at your shop; Byte Bunny's how-to films are one ready-made explanation.

What about the token or coin exchange machine?

If your shop sells tokens from an exchange machine, that machine is one more thing to plan for. Byte Bunny's own films show the QR on each washer and dryer, and Byte Bunny also works with coin and token exchange machines, so ask which arrangement suits your shop: QR at each washer and dryer, at the exchange machine, or both.

Frequently asked questions

More answers are on the Byte Bunny FAQ, and every guide is listed on Insights.

Do customers need to download a special app to pay by QR?

No special app is needed to pay a Byte Bunny washer or dryer by QR. Byte Bunny's customer benefits include no apps to download: customers pay with the e-wallet or banking app already on their phone, by scanning the DuitNow QR on the machine and paying the machine's price.

Which e-wallets can my customers pay with?

DuitNow QR in general works across providers: PayNet says one DuitNow QR accepts payments from all participating banks, e-wallets and third-party providers. Which apps work at a particular Byte Bunny machine is a question for Byte Bunny, whose customer benefits include many e-wallet payment methods. Ask for the current list for your machines.

Will my washers still take coins after the upgrade?

Yes. On a machine upgraded by Byte Bunny, the coin slot keeps working beside the QR, and a customer can even split one payment: for a RM7 wash, 3 tokens in the slot and RM4 by QR. Owners follow cash sales and e-wallet sales in the Byte Bunny Portal, along with a detailed history of every transaction.

Does the upgrade work on dryers as well as washers?

Yes, the DuitNow QR upgrade covers dryers as well as washers. Byte Bunny's how-to films show customers paying by DuitNow QR at both a washer and a dryer, with the same three steps at each: open an e-wallet or banking app, scan the QR on the machine, and pay the machine's price.

Can a machine be started remotely?

Yes. Byte Bunny's benefits for laundromat owners include machines that can be remotely activated, and after a customer's QR payment Byte Bunny's servers start the machine. Ask Byte Bunny how remote activation would work for the machines in your own shop.

Sources

1. Bank Negara Malaysia, Annual Report 2025, "Promoting Safe and Efficient Payment and Remittance Services": bnm.gov.my/publications/ar2025/ch1e
2. PayNet, "8.44 Billion Transactions Processed in 2025 as Digital Payments Become Malaysians' Preferred Way to Pay", April 2026: paynet.my press release
3. PayNet, DuitNow QR: paynet.my/personal-solutions/duitnow-qr.html
4. PayNet Developer Portal, DuitNow QR, Merchant-Presented Domestic QR: docs.developer.paynet.my
5. Bernama, "Duo Arrested For Crime Spree In Four States", 17 January 2025: bernama.com
6. Visa Malaysia, press release on contactless payments at a self-service laundromat chain, 31 July 2019: visa.com.my
7. Byte Bunny Technology, how-to films: washer and dryer (YouTube, @ByteBunnyTech); Electrolux dryer (Facebook)