The redesigned MyKad began nationwide issuance on 17 September 2026, with replacement staged from there, and within days some of the first people to collect one ran into a problem: their new card would not pass the online identity check on several of the apps they rely on.
According to The Rakyat Post, new-card holders have reported being unable to complete the electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC) verification on Touch 'n Go eWallet, Ryt Bank, AEON Bank and GXBank, and MyDigital ID's online registration cannot yet recognise the redesigned card either. Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara (JPN) has confirmed that some holders hit eKYC difficulties and said providers are updating their systems so the new card can be read during verification, which is another way of saying the systems do not yet read it.
The authorities have framed it as a compatibility issue rather than a fault in the card, with verification systems being updated to recognise the new format. The card we covered at launch carries a new dual-interface chip built for both contact reading and contactless NFC, and the existing systems have not caught up with the new format yet.
In a statement reported by Free Malaysia Today, JPN said "eKYC service providers are updating their systems so that the design and features of the new-generation MyKad can be recognised during the verification process," and added that it had given providers the information they need and is monitoring the rollout to speed it up. Anyone stuck was told to ask their service provider for an alternative way to verify.
MyDigital ID has put a date on its side of the fix. According to Free Malaysia Today, it is expected to support online registration using the new card from 1 October, a limitation that applies to first-time MyDigital ID sign-ups. That date is MyDigital ID's, not the four apps', which have not published a shared timeline of their own.
There is no need to rush a replacement. JPN has been clear that existing MyKad cards remain valid and that Malaysians do not have to swap to the new one unless they genuinely need to. So if you are still carrying your current card and it verifies on your apps as it always has, this rollout does not change anything for you this week.
The pattern is a familiar one for a big rollout: the card began reaching people while several of the systems that have to read it were still being updated. It is the same coordination test behind Malaysia's wider digital-identity push, from MyDigital ID to the biometric gates being introduced at the country's airports. A new credential is only as useful as the systems that will accept it, and the gap between the two is where this week's friction sits.
For now the dates are the thing to hold on to. For first-time MyDigital ID users, online registration is expected back on 1 October. For the banking and e-wallet apps, JPN's advice is to ask each provider for an alternative check, and JPN says the existing card in your wallet stays valid in the meantime.
Image(s) courtesy of Onur Binay and Markus Winkler on Unsplash. Photo illustrations by ProductNation.
