Axiata Digital’s e-wallet Boost has introduced a suite of affordable and accessible micro insurance/takaful coverage under ‘Boost Protect’. This new feature available under the ‘Insurance’ tile in the app marks Boost’s foray into expanding the use of its e-wallet beyond just payments and into digital financial services. Exclusive to Boost users, it offers a variety of coverages that can be easily viewed and purchased on the app. The coverages are powered by Aspirasi and underwritten by Great Eastern’s General Insurance, Life Assurance and Takaful. In June, Great Eastern had invested US$70 million in Axiata Digital acquiring a stake of 21.875%,…
Author: Fintech News Malaysia
Author
Fi Life announced the expansion of its existing 20-year level term life insurance policy to 10-year, 15-year, 25-year and 30-year level terms. These level term policies underwritten by Tokio Marine Life Insurance Malaysia Bhd is in addition to the yearly renewable term introduced in 2015. With this expansion, consumers can opt for a life insurance policy where premiums are fixed for the duration of the term they have chosen. For example, if a customer chooses a 30-year level term Fi Life policy, they will pay the same level premium for the next 30 years. If she instead chooses a 10-year…
E-wallet operator Boost said in a media statement that Malaysian consumers have embraced a digital lifestyle and made contactless payments as the key payment method during the Recovery Movement Order (RMCO). This comes as Boost is reporting 140% increase in Gross Transaction Value (GTV) in August 2020 compared to the same period last year on August 2019. The e-wallet is also seeing 77% monthly increase in GTV after the MCO period between April to August. Its recently launched Boost Payment Link, a contactless payment solution developed for MSME merchants has also seen an increase in transactions by 21 times to-date.…
AirAsia Group is increasingly shifting its focus from aviation to its digital businesses as pandemic continues to batter its revenue. During its 2nd quarter financial results announcement, the group reported a 98% decline in year-on-year revenue. On the other hand, it’s digital financial service arm, BigPay is reportedly seeing a 469% spike in its remittance volume in the first half of 2020. Sources from Fintech News have also similarly observed other digital remittance players in Malaysia enjoying an increase in remittance transaction within their platform. In the second quarter of 2020, BigPay also saw a 11% increase in revenue with…
Changing customer expectations, the rise of big techs, and COVID-19 are accelerating banks’ digital transformation, forcing them to upgrade their infrastructure to meet the requirements of the data-intensive era, experts said. At the Huawei APAC FSI Data Storage Summit virtual event, experts from Huawei and China Construction Bank Asia discussed the need for the financial services industry to respond rapidly to the long-lasting market changes that have been brought in by COVID-19. These not only include rising demand for contactless and remote services, but also includes changing working conditions. During a panel discussion on the future of banking, Johnny Chung, general manager…
JurisTech, today announced its acquisition of iMoney. JurisTech is a leading Malaysian based company, specialising in enterprise-class software solutions for banks, financial institutions, insurance providers, and telecommunications companies. iMoney’s websites and services are used by millions of consumers in Malaysia to compare loans and other financial products. This announcement follows reports of iMoney’s largest shareholder iSelect exiting the company. According to The Edge, the ASX-listed iSelect reportedly held 84.3% stake in iMoney. “We are delighted to have iMoney join us in our journey to expand our innovation by offering beyond just enterprise solutions to our clients. We are now poised…
GHL Systems Berhad (GHL) and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) today announced a new partnership through the i3 Program, which is funded by MetLife Foundation, to focus on designing affordable financial solutions for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Malaysia. “Together with the technical know-hows and experience of UNCDF, we are excited to extend a broad range of financial products and services to the MSMEs segment,” said GHL Group CEO, Danny Leong. With their already strong footprint of reaching over 244,000 payment touchpoints across Malaysia, GHL provides beyond just payments, adding an array of value added services…
The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) signed a fintech cooperation agreement with Indonesia’s Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK) to establish a collaborative framework to develop the fintech ecosystem in both markets. OJK Indonesia is an Indonesian government agency that regulates and supervises the financial services sector, which includes banking, capital markets, and non-bank financial industries sectors. The agreement between the SC and OJK aims to facilitate information sharing on emerging trends and regulatory developments in fintech, provide joint innovation project opportunities and facilitate referrals of fintech businesses seeking to operate in each other’s jurisdiction. It was signed by SC Chairman Datuk Syed…
In just two years of commercial operation, Australian wealthtech startup PictureWealth has grown to more than AUD$2 billion in funds under advice, annualized revenues of AUD$20 million, and a client base of over 40,000 customers. This year only, the fast-growing startup has done 15 acquisitions, and just recently closed a AUD$12 million late-seed funding round to help it to pursue its ambition to reinvent the financial advisory landscape in Australia. “When we look at the market, there are a lot of robo-advisors, but they are not really dealing with people’s hopes and fears,” Neal Cross, co-founder and chairman of PictureWealth,…
Kenanga Investment Bank Berhad’s (“KIBB”) subsidiary, Kenanga Capital Islamic Sdn Bhd (KCI) has partnered with digital supply chain financing company, Bay Group Holdings Sdn Bhd (CapBay), in a bid to digitise the traditional factoring market in Malaysia. Registered and regulated by the Securities Commission of Malaysia since its inception in 2016, CapBay is known for its its P2P financing platform. Entrepreneurs in the country seeking to finance its invoices and receivables, regardless if they are from the public or private sector, will have a fully digital end-to-end online platform to access cash flow, fast financing including peer-to-peer financing unlocking their…
When it comes to fintech regulation, regulators in Malaysia have taken an activity-based approach that considers the sorts of businesses financial companies conduct. Depending on the nature of these business activities, startups will know whether they fall under Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) supervision or not, as well as which piece of regulation they must comply with, Suhaimi Bin Ali, director of the Financial Development and Innovation Department at BNM, said during the launch of Fintech Booster in early August “We regulate [based] on activities,” Suhaimi explained during his session at The Orbit. “So if [the] activities [you conduct] fall into…
Fundaztic, a peer-to-peer financing (P2P) platform, partners with Lazada to deliver an interest-free financing program for Lazada sellers under the government’s ePENJANA initiative for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (‘MSME’). The initiative aims to support an estimated 30,000 unique local MSMEs to digitalise amidst the disruption to businesses caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. MSMEs are especially vulnerable during these difficult times. In particular, traditional businesses might find it challenging to begin the digital transformation process without sufficient support. Hence, the interest-free financing programme aims to alleviate some pressure off the MSMEs in this regard. “Being a fully digitalised platform…
HSBC launched its Voice ID solution for customers in Malaysia, stating that it is the first country in Southeast Asia where the bank has introduced this capability. Voice ID is an advanced voice biometric technology which allows customers to verify their identity using voice recognition capabilities. It also provides access to their phone banking services in a quicker, safer and more convenient manner. Voice ID makes banking simpler for customers as they will no longer need to remember passwords or answers to security questions and will instead use their voice to identify themselves. Eligible phone banking customers can simply register…
RHB announced today a partnership with Finology to enable instant online approval for mortgage loan applications through Loanplus. Developed by Finology, Loanplus is a patented solution that enables property developers and real estate agents to help customers obtain their pre-approved mortgages with banks at the point of property purchase. With the pre-filtering solution in place, RHB will be able to interact directly with customers who have received mortgage pre-approvals. This platform extends the capabilities of the RHB MyHome App for property buyers, and further expands the current offerings within the RHB Homeowners Ecosystem. In addition to the end-to-end mortgage application…
RHB announced today the launch of RHB Financing (SME) Mobile App, which they described as an “AI-powered” and “customer self-initiated” SME mobile app, which they claim in the first in Malaysia. The app, they said, is powered by AI, machine learning and big data capabilities, featuring facial recognition and real-time application processing capabilities. The app enables customers to interact with RHB’s relationship managers via mobile and submit applications digitally without having to physically meet their relationship manager or visit a bank branch. RHB’s transaction banking head, Jeffrey Ng said that the pandemic has shifted customer’s preference towards remote loan applications…
Bursa Malaysia is said to be partnering with Hashstacs to co-develop a blockchain Proof-of-Concept project dubbed “Project Harbour” for its bonds marketplace. Project Harbour is centred around the usage of Distributed Ledger Technology (” DLT”) as a register in facilitating the growth of Labuan’s bond marketplace. The project will take place in Malaysia’s offshore market, Labuan, in collaboration with the Labuan Financial Exchange (LFX), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bursa Malaysia. Project Harbour is aimed at exploring and harnessing the opportunities enabled by blockchain and tokenisation of assets. The entire lifecycle management of digital bonds will tested and managed on Trident…
Fasspay an e-money license holder regulated by Bank Negara Malaysia, has received the regulator’s approval to support a set of new offerings that will expand the capabilities of its white label e-wallet solution. Fasspay is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Soft Space a Malaysian based payments specialist. The approval enables Fasspay’s white label e-wallet to support a limit of up to RM10,000. They said the approval also grants Fasspay the ability to issue physical Visa-branded prepaid cards that can be linked to the e-wallet application thereby giving them access to a virtual card too. In May, Fasspay was the first to…
For fintech to thrive and reach its full potential, Malaysia must establish a conducive and comprehensive fintech ecosystem where all industry participants work towards the same goals, said Datuk Wira Dr Hj. Rais Hussin Mohamed Ariff, chairman of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), the government agency driving digital transformation and adoption. Speaking at the first episode of the Orbit Talk Series on July 23, Datuk Wira Dr Hj Rais Hussin cited the case of tech giant Grab, a startup originally from Malaysia but which later moved to Singapore after failing to raise much-needed funding in its native country, stating that…
Huawei announced that it will be hosting its APAC Financial Industry Storage Summit 2020 on the 13th August 2020. The high-level summit is targeted at keeping the C-level from banks informed on the latest trends, developments and challenges in data storage. This is becoming increasingly crucial as the world rapidly becomes more digital, thanks largely to ubiquitous connectivity and an entire generation of people who are digital natives. There are no signs of the digital revolution slowing down as many of the markets in Asia-Pacific including Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines have all moved towards introducing regulations to facilitate the…
Telco operator U Mobile announced a partnership with Funding Societies to offer business financing solutions for Malaysian micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as well as small office/home office (SOHO) customers via its digital payment acceptance solution GoBiz. Customers of U Mobile and Gobiz will be able to access Funding Societies’ P2P financing platform which offers flexibility in loans ranging from RM3,000 to RM1 million. They said the entire process can be done digitally through GoBiz’s website and existing customers of U Mobile or GoBiz will not need to provide collateral or retention sum. They claim that borrowers will be…