Author: Fintech News Malaysia

Fintech News Network has learned through a LinkedIn post that points to a round of restructuring at BigPay, a fintech subsidiary of Capital A. In an earlier post, Nurul Afiqah Jamaluddin from BigPay’s People & Culture team said that her team and she had been impacted by internal restructuring and that their roles were at risk. In a later post, she said several other colleagues across the three markets had also been impacted by the recent restructuring. The departures include high-ranking leadership and technical heads based in Singapore, notably Chief Information Security Officer Angus Thorn, Head of Backend Architecture and…

Airwallex has secured two new licences from Bank Negara Malaysia, paving the way for a full commercial launch in Malaysia. The company received approval for an e-money issuing licence and a Class A licence, allowing it to offer a complete suite of payment services in the country. These approvals build on Airwallex’s existing Class B Money Services Business licence and its status as a Registered Merchant Acquirer in Malaysia. With the expanded regulatory clearance, Airwallex can now offer services including payments, multi-currency accounts and foreign exchange through a single platform. Arnold Chan, General Manager for Asia-Pacific at Airwallex, said, “Malaysia…

PolicyStreet has raised US$21 million (RM85 million) in the first close of its Series C round after reporting more than US$1 million in profit for FY2025. The first close was led by Cool Japan Fund, with participation from existing investors Altara Ventures and Gobi Partners, along with other investors. The Malaysian insurtech is now backed by two sovereign wealth funds. Khazanah first backed PolicyStreet in a RM67 million (US$15.3 million) Series B round in 2023. The fresh capital will be used to support its next phase of growth, including regional expansion, stronger technology infrastructure and deeper partnerships across Asia. PolicyStreet…

Malaysia’s five digital banks had reached 2.4 million customers and RM4.2 billion in deposits by end-2025, as Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) rolled out a new framework to track their inclusion impact. According to BNM’s Annual Report 2025, all five digital banks were operational by the end of last year, with about 65% of customers coming from unserved and underserved groups such as low-income households, gig workers and youth. The banks had also approved RM1 billion in financing, with 34% going to those same segments. Malaysia’s five digital banks are GX Bank, AEON Bank, Boost Bank, KAF Digital Bank and Ryt…

KWAP is closing in on a CEO decision with Nurhisham Hussein from the Prime Minister’s Office and BSN CEO Jay Khairil Jeremy Abdullah seen as the main contenders, according to The Edge. The public sector pension fund is expected to discuss the appointment at a board meeting on 31 March, with the selected candidate likely to assume the role from 1 April 2026. The Edge, citing sources, reported that Nurhisham, who serves as Senior Director of Economy and Finance at the Prime Minister’s Office, is among the leading names under consideration. Prior to joining the PMO, he was Chief Strategy…

If the startup world is one big pizza party, female founders are still only walking away with a single slice. Despite a recovering market, only 12% of deal funding is going to women. Where is the rest of the capital going, and why is the system structurally built to ignore female ambition? In this episode, we sit down with Sarah Lim (Investment Partner, OSK Ventures) and Rejina Rahim (Founder, Wahine Capital) to uncover the hard truths of the Venture Capital ecosystem in Southeast Asia. We move past the surface-level “diversity” buzzwords to address the real roadblocks: from the staggering lack…

Capital A has appointed Effendy Shahul Hamid as Deputy CEO, adding the former CIMB leader to its next phase of expansion. Effendy will assume the role on 6 April 2026 as Capital A sharpens its focus on growing its core businesses following the disposal of its aviation businesses to AirAsia X in January 2026. The group is now focused on expanding Asia Digital Engineering, Teleport, AirAsia MOVE, AirAsia Next and Santan. Effendy brings more than two decades of regional leadership experience across banking, digital transformation, partnerships and ecosystem building. During his 21 years at CIMB Group, he led its regional…

Maybank completed its first on-chain transaction in the MYR-SGD corridor involving tokenised deposits, FX conversion and a cross-border payment to Singapore. The bank said the pilot transaction was carried out with Yinson Holdings on 25 March 2026. The transaction builds on a pilot Maybank began earlier this year under Bank Negara Malaysia’s Digital Asset Innovation Hub to test ringgit tokenised deposits for cross-border payments. It involved tokenising bank deposits, converting Malaysian ringgit into Singapore dollars on-chain and transferring the funds from Malaysia to Singapore in near real-time through Maybank’s permissioned blockchain. Maybank said the pilot demonstrated the technical feasibility of…

TNG Digital has opened its first permanent service hub for TNG eWallet users at Kota Raya in Kuala Lumpur, adding in-person support for account and app-related issues. The centre provides face-to-face support for account-related matters and app features, and is aimed at users across different age groups, nationalities, language backgrounds and levels of digital literacy. The centre is open to users across different age groups, language backgrounds and levels of digital literacy. “Digital financial services have become part of everyday life. While technology allows us to serve millions of users efficiently, there are moments when people value the reassurance of…

Bursa Malaysia and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) are expanding cross-border market ties with a new large-cap index and a broader cooperation agreement. As the first initiative under the agreement, the exchanges unveiled the HKEX Bursa Malaysia Large Cap Index. The benchmark combines 30 large-cap companies listed in Malaysia and 30 listed in Hong Kong. The index is intended to strengthen capital market links between the two markets and could support future cross-market investment opportunities, including ETFs. Bursa Malaysia and HKEX will explore ways to streamline dual listing pathways, co-develop market-driven indexes, improve access to and promotion of…

Crypto exchange Luno has added 29 digital assets in Malaysia, bringing the total number available on its platform to 51. The exchange said the approvals from the Securities Commission Malaysia mark its largest-ever batch of new listings in the country. The additions span eight segments of the digital asset market, including Layer 1 and Layer 2 blockchains, decentralised finance, AI-linked tokens, gaming, NFTs, real world assets, and decentralised physical infrastructure networks. Among the newly listed assets are TRON, Celestia, Injective, SUI, Toncoin, Arbitrum, Optimism, Ethereum Name Service, Jupiter, Pyth Network, Bittensor, Render, Axie Infinity, The Sandbox, Ondo Finance, PAX Gold,…

CIMB will work with the Securities Commission Malaysia and Bursa Malaysia on a FIKRALab pilot to develop a new instrument for Malaysia’s Islamic capital markets, according to Bernama. The pilot falls under the SC’s Capital Market Masterplan 2026-2030 and is aimed at expanding the investment universe for Shariah-compliant funds. It is also intended to give those funds more ways to tap into the region’s growing Islamic banking sector. The effort is also tied to the first phase of FIKRALab, which the Securities Commission has described as a pilot focused on unlocking Shariah-derived income within mixed-activity groups. FIKRALab was launched by…

The Securities Commission Malaysia has set up the ICM Innovation Lab to support the development of new Islamic capital market products and instruments. Known as FIKRALab, the platform will serve as a co-creation and applied research and development initiative under the Capital Market Masterplan 2026 to 2030. It is intended to help develop Islamic capital market products and instruments guided by Maqasid al-Shariah. The lab will expand its earlier innovation efforts beyond fintech-focused initiatives. It follows the launch of FIKRA in 2021 and FIKRA ACE in 2023, both of which were introduced to support the Islamic fintech ecosystem. Through FIKRALab,…

Berjaya Sompo Insurance has appointed Soo Wai Har as Chief Executive Officer, effective 1 April 2026. She will report to Kenneth Reilly, Chief Executive Officer, Insurance, Sompo Asia Pacific. Wai Har succeeds Sek Kee Tan, who is retiring after serving as CEO since 2017. Tan has made significant contributions to the business over the past nine years and will remain with the company until June 2026 to support the transition. Wai Har brings more than 30 years of experience in the insurance industry, including roles with global insurers. She was most recently CEO of Generali Malaysia and previously held senior…

Jumio recorded zero exceptions in Bank Negara Malaysia’s independent eKYC assessment, which tests vendors on ID verification, facial recognition and liveness detection. The assessment focuses on identifying fake or manipulated MyKad documents, matching user selfies against ID photos, and confirming that the user is a real person to prevent spoofing or deepfake attempts. Jumio worked with Malaysian cybersecurity and assessment firm LGMS for the independent review. According to the final report, its eKYC solution met all required criteria with no findings. Jumio said the result reflects its work in Asia Pacific, where it has operated since 2018, supporting banks and…

Fiuu reported US$13 billion in total payment volume in 2025, up 32.65 percent from 2024, as it expanded across Southeast Asia. It had reported US$8.3 billion in total payment volume for the first nine months of the year, before processing another US$4.7 billion in the fourth quarter. Fiuu also handled more than 960 million transactions across the region in 2025. During the year, the company introduced new payment features and partnerships. In Malaysia, it said it became the first payment acquirer to enable Samsung Pay Online and expanded digital wallet acceptance nationwide. Fiuu launched Tap to Pay on iPhone in…

Former Bank Islam Group CEO Mohd Muazzam Mohamed has joined the board of the Consumer Credit Commission. The commission, also known as Suruhanjaya Kredit Pengguna, was set up to oversee consumer credit providers in Malaysia outside the banking sector. The commission earlier named former Bank Negara Malaysia Assistant Governor Abu Hassan Alshari Yahaya as its first Executive Chairman. This follows the enforcement of the Consumer Credit Act 2025 on 1 March 2026 and marks the start of the commission’s operations as the body overseeing consumer credit providers in Malaysia. Muazzam stepped down as Group CEO of Bank Islam in December…

Kenanga Investment Bank has increased its stake in Kinetic DAX to 81.7%, making the exchange its subsidiary. It previously held a 19% stake. The transaction was carried out through Kenanga Private Equity, the group’s wholly owned subsidiary, as part of a fundraising and capitalisation exercise by KDX. KDX, which is licensed by the Securities Commission Malaysia, is now Malaysia’s first and only bank-backed digital asset exchange. The bank said KDX’s stronger capital position will support its next phase of growth and resilience, including platform expansion, broader offerings and strategic initiatives linked to Kenanga’s wider digital plans. It added that KDX…

RHB marked the Hari Raya season by distributing 9,000 Baju Raya items to 18 charity homes and supporting 120 underserved families. The outreach combined public clothing donations, food aid and festive shopping support. The clothing drive was carried out through Projek Baju Raya, with RHB serving as a collection and distribution platform and setting up donation points for public contributions. Volunteers also distributed close to 200 sets of essential food supplies, including rice, sugar, flour and condensed milk, to help families prepare for the celebrations. As part of its wider Hari Raya outreach, RHB also organised RHB Shopping Raya 2026…

As digital onboarding becomes the primary gateway to financial services across Southeast Asia, financial institutions face a growing challenge: delivering fast, seamless customer experiences while staying resilient against increasingly sophisticated fraud threats. From synthetic identities to deepfake powered impersonation and device manipulation, AI-driven fraud is reshaping the risk landscape. What was once a compliance checkpoint is now a critical decision layer embedded directly into customer journeys. In markets such as Malaysia and Indonesia, where digital adoption is rapidly accelerating, onboarding is expected to be instant and frictionless. At the same time, identity verification must remain secure and resistant to emerging…