Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia announced that Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon.com company, will be powering its newly-launched digital bank Rize. The bank said that it will be migrating its key information technology (IT) infrastructure to AWS by 2026. Additionally, Al Rajhi said that it will be leveraging a number of AWS’ products and services, including containers, databases, and compute to deliver innovative financial services for its digital bank Rize. Powered by AWS, Al Rajhi is building digital banking products for Rize as well as tapping customers’ data to enable more personalised services. Launched in December 2022, Rize had hit…
Author: Fintech News Malaysia
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Insurtech firm bolttech has partnered with digital lifestyle insurer Tune Protect Group to launch device protection solutions and support services in Malaysia. The device insurance coverage is underwritten by Tune Protect Malaysia, providing protection for cracked screens, accidental and liquid damage, as well as extended warranty for insured devices, including smartphones and home appliances. The device support services, provided by bolttech, include device trade-in, 24/7 technical support, device repair concierge service, and logistics service for device pick-up and delivery. The solutions are available as a bundled package or can be purchased separately, i.e., insurance coverage only or support services only.…
Oyen, a Malaysian digital-first pet healthcare insurance provider, has provided RM100 million worth of protection and revamped its brand with a new look. Additionally, the insurtech has also rolled out a new travel insurance product for people and incorporated it with pet protection. This new travel insurance not only covers avid travelling pet owners, but it also offers additional pet benefits during their trip, i.e. trip curtailment, where the Oyen travel insurance policy will pay for the unused portion of their trip (up to RM50,000) for returning home early should their pet get severely ill or pass away. This Oyen…
The cross-border QR code payment linkage between Singapore and Malaysia has gone live, enabling customers of participating financial institutions to make payments by scanning NETS QR and DuitNow QR codes. This will support in-person payments through the scanning of physical QR codes displayed by merchants, and online cross-border e-commerce transactions. This cross-border QR code payment linkage is made possible through the strong collaboration of various industry players from both countries, including Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS), the Association of Banks in Singapore, Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet), and participating financial institutions from both countries. Participants from Singapore are DBS Bank, OCBC…
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) released its Annual Report 2022 yesterday to detail its key initiatives in fulfilling its mandates to promote monetary and financial stability conducive to the sustainable growth of the Malaysian economy. Here are five key highlights from the annual report: 1. Whole-of-nation approach to combat financial fraud and scams BNM has taken a whole-of-nation approach in combating financial fraud and scams which is one of its key priorities. The central bank had conducted the first industry-wide cyber drill exercise BNM RE4CT in 2022 with over 270 participants from 35 financial institutions to ascertain their responses against cyber…
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) is inviting feedback on its proposal to make several enhancements its existing Financial Technology Regulatory Sandbox Framework. The central bank said that the enhancements are focused at ensuring proportionate regulatory facilitation and improving operational efficiency of the existing sandbox procedures. BNM has received over 110 applications from both incumbents and startups over the six years that it has been in operations to enable the testing of new technologies such as electronic Know-Your-Customer as well as new business models including digital insurance, peer-to-peer family takaful, buy-now-pay-later, and digital remittance. As a result of this, BNM had taken…
Financial inclusion and credit access are essential for driving economic growth and improving livelihoods in numerous emerging markets, including South Asia. However, extending credit to underbanked and unbanked populations comes with inherent risks, especially when dealing with new-to-credit customers who lack a credit history. Addressing Lenders’ Challenges in Emerging Markets In order to provide quick and trustworthy lending decisions while minimizing risk, lenders need to explore alternative approaches to enhance their understanding of new-to-credit applicants and optimize loan decisions without jeopardizing overall defaults. This is where LendBetter, a Mobilewalla solution, becomes a crucial tool. Mobilewalla LendBetter offers over 200 highly…
The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has released its annual report for 2022 which highlights its efforts in promoting market integrity, investor protection, and the development of the Malaysian capital market. The SC Chairman, Dato’ Seri Dr. Awang Adek Hussin, said the Malaysian capital market remained orderly and continued to finance the economy, with total funds raised hitting a record high of RM179.4 billion. This exceeded the 5-year pre-pandemic average of RM121.4 billion. This was achieved despite increased global market volatility and headwinds where Malaysia fared better than its global counterparts. The global capital market had registered weaker performance in 2022…
Digital asset exchange Luno announced that its Chief Operating Officer James Lanigan who has been with the company for five years will now serve as its CEO. Meanwhile, Co-founder and existing Chief Executive Officer Marcus Swanepoel will be moving into a new role as Executive Chairman. Following the transition, Luno said that Marcus will continue to work closely with James to particularly focus on broadening its investor base to support the company’s next stage of growth. James had been instrumental in building Luno’s local teams throughout Africa, Europe, and Asia Pacific, while also growing its product portfolio. As Luno’s COO,…
Bursa Malaysia announced the deployment of its Centralised Sustainability Platform which will be piloted by Maybank and the UMW Corporation. UMW and Maybank are pioneers of the Early Adopter Programme (EAP), running from April to October 2023, an initiative to accelerate corporate Malaysia’s transition towards a green economy. The bourse had worked together with the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) to develop and test the platform which will serve as a repository for listed companies’ ESG disclosures. This will enable listed companies’ to reinforce their sustainability disclosures and accelerate swift adoption of their supply chain’s carbon emissions, which also includes…
Hong Leong Bank (HLB) and Hong Leong Islamic Bank have enabled the Emergency Lock feature for both the HLB Connect online as well as the mobile banking app starting March 2023 onwards. With this new feature, customers can quickly block their account if they suspect they have fallen prey to a scam, without needing to contact the bank call center first. Customers will also be able to restrict activity on their bank account with a ‘View Only’ access, so no transactions will be allowed to take place. They can still log in to review their account details and balance. Meanwhile,…
Payment solutions provider Revenue Group‘s Group CEO Danny Leong Kah Chern is reportedly reconsidering his decision to resign according to a company announcement on Bursa Malaysia. The group sought to clarify matters when Fintech News Malaysia published news of Danny’s resignation last Thursday when we caught wind of it from credible sources. He had tendered his resignation just two months after having first accepted the position on 6 January this year. If Danny decides to proceed with the resignation, he will be stepping down officially on 23 May. In the meantime, Revenue Group said that has already begun the search…
Bank Islam Malaysia has partnered with MESINKIRA, a cloud-based retailing platform for MSMEs, to offer underbanked microentrepreneurs a chance to digitalise their businesses through an end-to end integrated mobile business management solution. Microentrepreneurs that will benefit from the collaboration are Bank Islam’s microfinancing customers under iTEKAD Programme. The iTEKAD programme was established by Bank Negara Malaysia to assist low-income microentrepreneurs to strengthen their financial management and business acumen towards generating sustainable income. Through this partnership, microentrepreneurs will be able to digitally record their sales, accept multimode payments as well as do inventories, business expenses, and bookkeeping which eventually generate a…
Payment solutions provider Revenue Group’s Group CEO Danny Leong Kah Chern has tendered his resignation just two months after he took up the position in the embattled company. According to credible sources, Danny will be stepping down officially on 23 May after having first accepted the position on 6 January this year. The resignation of the former GHL Group CEO has given rise to uncertainties about the company’s future. Just two days ago, Revenue Group’s Managing Director and alternative Chairman Datuk Eddie Ng Chee Siong resigned from his position and sold off 25.34 million of his shares late last month…
AmBank and Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia (CGC) has signed an SME Portfolio Guarantee (SPG) agreement to extend an additional of RM200 million financing for eligible SMEs. This marks the continuation of the SPG scheme launched in September 2016 where a sum of RM150 million was first allocated and fully subscribed within five months. Under this scheme, eligible SMEs can apply for financing facilities of up to RM 1 million from AmBank with repayment tenure of up to seven years. Seventy percent of the principal financing amount will be guaranteed by CGC. The SME Portfolio Guarantee will be available at all…
Maybank has launched an integrated automobile financing solution for Electric Vehicle (EV) and Hybrid customers covering various aspects including financing solutions, insurance and takaful coverage as well as EV charging privileges. On the insurance front, Etiqa had previously introduced an insurance and takaful coverage for EV Home Chargers in October last year. The coverage is available as a complimentary add-on to the Etiqa private car policy or certificate for newly registered battery-powered Electric Vehicles (BEV) or Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV). Alternatively, a standalone coverage for EV home chargers under the All Risk Insurance and Takaful plan is also available…
airasia Super App has appointed Mohamad Hafidz Mohd Fadzil (Mo) as acting CEO to succeed Amanda Woo who will be stepping down, effective 1 April. Once he steps into his new role, Mo will continue to drive the platform’s fintech vision that will further help to boost the Super App’s choices for its users and bring more revenue to the business. Mo Hafidz joined AirAsia in June 2019 and is currently the Chief Fintech Officer for the airasia Super App. With nearly 30 years in the payments industry, Mo has assisted in shaping regulatory policies in several regional markets and…
Touch ‘n Go had announced the appointment of Praba Sangarajoo as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective 1 April 2023. He is currently Deputy CEO, Business and Growth at Touch ‘n Go. Praba joined Touch ‘n Go in June 2021 and is responsible for revenue growth, new business, product innovation as well as the management of government and stakeholder relationships. In less than two years, he has spearheaded the launch of new products and introduced new revenue streams. This includes RFID for expressway toll payments and fueling, the enhanced Touch ‘n Go NFC card for improved customer conveniences, and the acquisition…
KPMG Malaysia will be supporting Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation’s (MDEC) Founders Centre of Excellence (FOX) programme to help Malaysian tech companies achieve unicorn status by 2025. Through this collaboration, KPMG will provide customised consulting and advisory support covering areas such as market insights, technology updates, risk management, governance, regulatory compliance, and more, depending on the needs of the company. The 20 shortlisted companies in the FOX programme are those that are privately held in Malaysia as well as have recorded revenue above RM20 million or raised Series A or have a strong 3-year growth track record. Leveraging on MDEC’s support…
Dato’ Sri Vida, a beauty mogul and polarising figure on the Malaysian scene, is coming under heat as the investors of her ill-fated initial coin offering (ICO) LaVida Coin are demanding their money back. According to the Harian Metro, the 41 investors are demanding to be repaid to the tune of RM59 million. Dato’ Sri Vida claims to have no knowledge of the demands and will be seeking legal advise on this. She declined to comment further on the issue as it was a legal matter but implied that this is a deliberate attack on her reputation and business. Dato’…