It’s been nearly 3 years now since we last highlighted the best fintech startups that Malaysia has to offer. Since then there have been many players who have come and gone. As we enter 2020, it felt appropriate for us to showcase in 20 of Malaysia’s most promising fintech startups and companies. Compared to the previous list where we only highlighted startups, this year’s list will look at established players as well. In doing so, we hope to provide a more complete picture of the landscape in Malaysia. This list intended for purely homegrown companies that are still headquartered in…

Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) today published a regulatory guideline on digital assets that outlines the framework for digital token offerings in Malaysia or more commonly known as ICOs to some. The guideline incorporated feedback received by the regulator following the issuance of the consultation paper. According to their media statement, the industry was overwhelmingly in support of leveraging platform operators to review applications for issuance of digital tokens for fundraising. In essence, digital token offerings will be done via Initial Exchange Offering (IEO). IEOs are basically the same as ICOs except that it is done through crypto exchange instead of…

Bank Negara Malaysia today issued the exposure draft for the licensing framework for virtual banks. The central bank will be issuing up to five licenses to qualified applicants to establish digital banks to conduct either conventional or Islamic banking business in Malaysia. The new framework among other things seems to place emphasis on having applicants serve an underserved market and project a path to profitability. Such digital banks are expected to offer meaningful access to and promote responsible usage of suitable and affordable financial solutions to financial consumers. As these virtual banks may adopt new and untested business models Bank Negara…

We’re only 2 weeks away from 2020, for most Malaysians that grew up during the 80’s and 90’s Wawasan 2020 felt like it was a lifetime away and yet here we are, only a few days away from entering a new decade. Before we transition to the new year, I felt would be worthwhile for us to reflect on some of the key developments for 2019 and some of the stories that have shaped Malaysia’s fintech landscape. Here are our picks for the top 5 stories: Malaysia Moves to Regulate Cryptocurrency Exchanges and Digital Assets As early as January 2019,…

Blockchain startup LuxTag announced that investors will be able to using their Bitcoin and XEM tokens to invest into their equity crowdfunding campaign which is now live on pitchIN. According to their media statement, pitchIN has obtained approval from Securities Commission Malaysia to enable investments into LuxTag using Bitcoin and XEM. The tokens will count as non-monetary consideration in-kind and investors will receive LuxTag share equivalent to the value of the crypto tokens in Malaysian Ringgit. Luxtag is a local blockchain-powered business solution provider in the field of track & trace, authenticity, and business insights. LuxTag is raising RM800,000 in…

Ever since Malaysia caught the e-wallet bug, I’ve always been curious about how difficult or easy it would be to go about my daily life using only e-wallets, but as someone who procrastinates quite a fair bit, I’ve been putting off my attempt to do so. It is as though the stars have aligned for me to finally get around to doing it when the GrabPay Malaysia team approached me to do their “GrabPay Cashless Challenge” As you might have guessed, the challenge is pretty straight forward — going cashless for a week using only GrabPay. In this challenge, I…

Bank Negara Malaysia issued on Monday the much anticipated eKYC exposure draft for financial institutions in Malaysia, this draft when in effect, will be applicable across the industry to include banks, insurers, takaful operators, development financial institutions, and more. This follows Bank Negara’s previous issuance of eKYC guidelines for both remittance companies and money changers. Most of the readers of Fintech News Malaysia would likely be familiar with the term eKYC since it’s something we’ve covered and written quite extensively about. For the benefit of those who may be unfamiliar, eKYC stands for “Electronic Know Your Customer” which is a…

Axiata Digital Capital’s Aspirasi announced Thursday, a partnership with Great Eastern to provide affordable insurance and takaful products for consumers, micro-entrepreneurs and SMEs. The distribution of the product will be fully digital and will be offered through Aspirasi and its partner platforms which includes Celcom, and the group’s e-wallet brand Boost. The parties involved said in a media statement by enabling Malaysians access to a wide range of bite-sized policies that start as low as RM 1.50 they hope to bridge the protection gap in Malaysia. Similarly, both parties have also struck the same arrangement in Indonesia. The Axiata group…

PUC Berhad and Smuzcity Berhad announced today the launch JDX Presto concept store, which they claim is the largest cashless concept store in ASEAN. Spanning a total of 50,000 square feet, the cashless store located in Quill City Mall, right in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. The JDX Presto Concept store hosts a wide category of products like electrical appliances, gadgets, health and beauty, home and living, fashion, and F&B products from across various brands. Shopping in this concept store is a completely cashless experience, to purchase something shoppers only need to scan the QR code of the desired product…

“If you want to innovate, you must never be afraid of being fired” Those were the first lines that Rohit Nambiar, CEO of AXA Affin Life said when I asked about the secret sauce behind a relatively small player like AXA Affin Life capturing over 70% of the digital life protection market share. A bold statement, but with the inertia that exists within insurance is seeing it is perhaps this type of mentality that is required to drive much-needed change within the industry. The 39 year-old leader believes that the insurance industry a giant that has been sleeping for…

It’s been two years now since I sat down at Securities Commission Malaysia’s press conference when its then chairman Tan Sri Ranjit Singh revealed to us that the regulator will be issuing the Digital Investment Manager framework to pave the way for robo advisors in Malaysia. Of all the developments within the Malaysian fintech space, the introduction of robo advisor to Malaysia is among my favourite in recent times. There’s a good reason for that too, because one of fintech’s main rallying call has always been financial inclusion. If you measure financial inclusion by the number of adults with bank…

In 2017, we started Fintech News Malaysia with a simple goal — to help shine the spotlight on deserving fintech startups in Malaysia. In line with that, we publish our Fintech Malaysia report on an annual basis to provide anyone who is interested to find out more about the fintech scene in Malaysia with a definitive guide. Time sure does fly, almost without realising it, we’re now publishing the 3rd edition of our Fintech Malaysia report. This time around, we’re fortunate to receive the support of our generous sponsors like Touch ‘n Go eWallet, GHL, DAX Ventures, MoneyMatch, Jirnexu and…

PayNet and it’s Singaporean counterpart NETS announced today the launch of a real-time cross-border payments using MyDebit ATM cards in Singapore and vice versa. Currently, MyDebit cards are accepted through the NETS network of merchants at Bugis Village which is, other locations include selected iStudio, Pandora, SaladStop! and Awfully Chocolate outlets. Since November 2018, Singapore consumers have been able to use their NETS ATM cards in Johor Bahru, marking the first time that NETS ATM cards can be used outside of Singapore. There are currently over 7,400 PayNet acceptance points for NETS ATM cards in Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur, Penang…

Paynet and Fave announced today that FaveBiz is the first non-bank merchant acquirer to offer DuitNow QR, Malaysia’s national QR payments standard. This news follows Public Bank and GrabPay who were the first bank and e-wallet respectively to adopt the QR standard. Starting in early 2020, Fave’s adoption of DuitNow QR will fuel Fave’s target of enabling 100,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with cashless payments and digital solutions. As part of the rollout, Fave will assist merchants in Malaysia to adopt DuitNow QR and enable them over time to accept payments from customers of 29 banks as well as…

Sedania As Salam Capital Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sedania Innovator Berhad, has announced the launch Assidq.com, an Islamic online marketplace. The online marketplace facilitates the customer’s Islamic financial needs through a personalised profile check with approval and disbursements. According to their media statement, the new portal offers a range of Islamic personal financing products and Islamic credit cards. However, at the time of publishing, the service to apply for credit card doesn’t seem to be available. According to them, they have made partnerships with Alliance Bank & Alliance Islamic Bank, Standard Chartered & Standard Chartered Saadiq and MBSB.…

Following the news of TransferWise securing their remittance license from Bank Negara Malaysia in June 2019, the international remittance company announced that they have officially launched their operations in Malaysia today. Speaking at the launch Taavet Hinrikus, Co- Founder and Chairman of TransferWise, said ” We are excited to be able to offer in Malaysia today a cheaper, faster and more convenient way to send money internationally. We’ve received requests from 15,000 people to make Malaysia their next priority  so we worked hard to enable our service as fast as we could.” TransferWise’s, Asia Pacific Lead, Venkatesh Saha further…

Banks are often punching bags when one thinks of industries that are not innovating quick enough. When the term fintech entered our public consciousness many would often say that fintechs will eat the bank’s lunch and some even bold enough to make predictions like banks ceasing to exist in 2025. But are these fair statements? Are banks complacent or are they actively trying to fend off potential disruptors by stepping up the digital game? Or are banks truly not doing enough especially with virtual banks on the horizon in Malaysia? In keeping with last year’s tradition we speak to the top…

PayNet and Grab jointly announced today that GrabPay has adopted Malaysia’s national QR payments standard, DuitNow QR; making GrabPay the first e-wallet in Malaysia to do so. This news follows Public Bank’s adoption of DuitNow QR earlier this June. DuitNow QR is established under Bank Negara Malaysia’s Interoperable Credit Transfer Framework (ICTF). ICTF mandates that PayNet, as the country’s shared payment infrastructure provider, implement an interoperable and common QR standard for Malaysia. According to their release, four Banks are already offering DuitNow QR in their mobile banking apps, with 25 banks expected to implement DuitNow QR over the next 6…

Experian, the global information services company announced this week that they have acquired a controlling stake in local credit bureau RAM Credit Information Sdn. Bhd (RAMCI). This acquisition is the latest in Experian’s spree of investing in companies specifically with the intent of tapping into their rich data sets. Since 2017, Experian has made seven investments in Asia-Pacific these are namely, Look Who’s Charging, Grab, Jirnexu, C88 Technologies, Bank Bazaar, and Compare Asia Group. Its latest investee RAMCI, provides credit reports, alerts and monitoring primarily to financial institutions to help them with credit origination, portfolio management, and collections activities. RAMCI…

The Securities Commission of Malaysia has given full approval to Luno’s application to operate as a Recognized Market Operator (Digital Asset Exchange). Luno is the first cryptocurrency exchange in Malaysia to receive this approval. The regulator has confirmed that Luno has satisfied all the required conditions and can now offer Malaysians the opportunity to buy, sell and store cryptocurrency on its platform.  “We are extremely grateful to the Securities Commission for confirming Luno as a Recognized Market Operator. It has been a long journey for Luno, from our entry into the Malaysian market in 2015 to us becoming the largest…