RHB Banking Group’s recently concluded ‘Get Your Hack On’: ASEAN Edition 2023 Hackathon drew more than 400 technology-savvy innovators from five countries across the ASEAN region. The third third instalment of this hackathon brought together tech talents from universities, corporates and startups to work on specific banking-related problem statements and generate innovative solutions. The preliminary stage of the hackathon comprised of 89 teams, culminating in the Grand Finals that saw 15 finalists compete for cash prizes and a chance to have their solutions integrated into RHB’s digital offerings. As part of its digital strategy, RHB targets to achieve more than…
Author: Fintech News Malaysia
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Valued at over US$ 1 Trillion the payments in South East Asia is a hotbed for innovation. What are some biggest trends shaping payments in the region and where is the industry headed? Special thanks to the following thought leaders for sharing their views: Alain Yee, Head of ShopeePay Malaysia Praful Morar, Global Expansion Officer, Nuvei Hiroko Michishita, Managing Director, JCB International Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. Andrew McCormack, Centre, Head BIS Innovation Hub Singapore Centre
Singapore-based Inypay announced that it will be launching its neobank, which has been in development for over 6 months, in Q2 2023. The key focus of Inypay is sustainable fintech. In its mission to improve the lives of the underserved communities in Southeast Asia, they aim to achieve quality education through education credit, zero hunger through food credit, and better health and well being through medical credit. Inypay will be offering micro-lending, remittances, domestic payments, e-wallets, personalised and communal savings as well as micro-insurance in Southeast Asia. The company’s 35-people team in Singapore and India is building a digital bank…
Malaysian insurtech startup Fi Life announced today the launch of its first self-underwritten life insurance product which claims to offer the cheapest life insurance for women, available online. Fi Life said that any woman below the age of 55 will have access to the lowest life insurance premium in Malaysia or get the difference refunded. The insurtech added that it is also offering the highest sum assured of RM1 million for among all life insurance policies offered online. In addition to that, it is also the cheapest life insurance for men in their prime working ages and covers foreign professionals…
Southeast Asian superapp Grab has appointed Adelene Foo as Managing Director of Grab Malaysia to succeed Sean Goh, who assumes the position of Regional Head of Deliveries and Mobility. In her role, Adelene will oversee the business strategy and operations of Grab’s businesses in Malaysia. With her experience in setting up the local team, Adelene will help to continue to grow the mobility, deliveries, on-demand groceries as well as accelerate the growth of the GrabFin. A ten-year veteran at Grab, she was previously the Country Head in Malaysia between 2012-2014 before moving on to regional roles. She was most recently…
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are innovative, agile and drive competition. However, they’re often shuffled to the back of the line when it comes to accessing credit. Lending to SMEs can be risky and time-consuming. Traditional financial institutions often require paperwork-heavy application processes and may find it difficult to execute credit risk decisioning without human intervention. Forty-four percent of SMEs need funding immediately to meet operating expenses, and 56% look to credit to grow their business. But when accessing credit quickly can mean the difference between a business flourishing or floundering, what are the options? Increasingly, disruptive lenders, including fintechs…
Pan-Asian venture capital (VC) firm Gobi Partners announced that it has onboarded two fintech firms to its Gobi Superseed II Fund (Gobi SSII Fund). Earned Wage Access (EWA) service provider Paywatch and equity crowdfunding platform (ECF) pitchIN were among the four promising Malaysian startups that were chosen. The other two startups were Islamic-themed streaming service Durioo+ as well as business-to-business e-commerce marketplace Lapasar. The US$10 million Gobi SSII Fund targets early-stage Malaysian startups and has invested in four other local companies since its launch in late 2020. The other local startups are Sunway Innovation Labs, TechNode, Speedhome and PolicyStreet. Paywatch…
Southeast Asian neobank BigPay has embarked on the first phase of its app enhancements with new design elements and experience powered by Snowdrop Solutions, a London-based Google Maps and Cloud Premier partner. Each BigPay transaction will display clear merchant names, logos, merchant contact information and be sorted under a categorisation system for different types of expenditure. This allows BigPay users to better understand information about their card transactions and spending habits at a glance. Bigpay said that it was able to deploy the new transaction enrichment services in just a few weeks through the use of Snowdrop’s Merchant Reconciliation System…
Maybank has introduced the ‘Kill Switch’ feature via Maybank2u (M2U) web and the MAE app as part of its efforts to combat online scams. The kill switch feature enables customers to immediately deactivate their M2U access with a click of a button if believe that they have been scammed. During the deactivation period, customers will not be able to log into M2U and reactivation can only be done after successful verification via the branch or the Maybank Group Customer Care. Customers will still be able to withdraw cash from ATMs and make purchases using their Maybank debit or credit cards.…
Singaporean tech conglomerate Sea announced that it will be creating more than 2,000 in Malaysia as part of its expanded investment plan in the country. Sea operates three core businesses across digital entertainment, e-commerce, as well as digital payments and financial services known as Garena, Shopee, and SeaMoney. ShopeePay is SeaMoney’s mobile wallet available in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand. The proposed expansion plans in Malaysia involves the setting up of cloud services, data hosting and processing, as well as a new logistics e-commerce warehouse. This decision was shared with the Minister of International Trade and Industry…
CIMB Bank and CIMB Islamic Bank has introduced a self-service ‘Lock Clicks ID’ feature which acts as a ‘kill switch’ for both its CIMB Clicks and CIMB OCTO apps. The new feature will enable customers to immediately freeze their online banking ID in-app if they detect any unusual or suspicious transactions or suspect that their account has been compromised. Once the Lock Clicks ID is activated, users will be automatically logged out of the app(s) and any new out-going transactions cannot be performed. In order to unlock it, users will be required to contact CIMB’s contact centre and perform the…
Touch ‘n Go Group has partnered with Visa to launch a corporate social responsibility (CSR)-linked numberless prepaid card with a maximum transaction limit of RM5000 per day. With this card acting as a complementary payment channel to the Touch ‘n Go eWallet, users will be able to make payments even at merchants who do not have a DuitNow QR code. The card also permits users to withdraw cash at automated teller machines (ATMs) and perform online and offline payments internationally. However, users will not be able to use the new Visa card to pay at highway tolls or car parks…
The growth of internet usage, online banking, and digitalization of financial services has increased cybercrime and cyber criminals’ attack surface. Financial institutions are a prime target for cyber-attacks due to the large amounts of data and money they hold. In the past few years, there has been a rise in cybercrime in financial institutions, with the Singaporean bank breach being one of the most prominent. The cost of any breach can be pretty staggering, considering the cost of litigation and the reputational damage the banks might face. During Fintech Fireside Asia’s latest panel discussion, high-powered executives representing SC Ventures, Bank…
BigPay, a Capital A venture company, has launched the prepaid mobile top-up feature so its Malaysian users can now top-up directly from their e-wallet balance. The feature is available for local telecom providers including Celcom, Digi, Hotlink, TuneTalk, U Mobile, and XOX. BigPay said that the addition of this feature allows users to better track their overall spending and manage their finances through the app. Additionally, prepaid top-ups via BigPay will entitle users to 1 airasia reward points for every RM20 spent. For the month of January, the first 1,000 users to make a minimum of RM10 top-up can receive…
Payment solutions provider GHL Systems will continue the rollout of Grab’s Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) service for its in-store merchants following the enablement of PayLater back in 2021 for online purchases. PayLater by Grab gives consumers the flexibility of making payment in the following month or in four monthly instalments with 0% interest. Through this expanded partnership with Grab Malaysia, merchants using GHL’s terminals can now offer their shoppers more payment options when making purchases in physical stores. Consumers can also earn GrabRewards for every PayLater transaction for more benefits and savings on Grab’s platform. Kevin Lee, CEO of…
Ouch!, a tech-enabled insurance platform has announced a fully subscribed six figures pre-series A round and is set to continue this momentum with Ouch! exercising Its over-allotment for additional investors to come on board. This follows their RM 1.5 Million seed funding announced just a year ago. Following the investment Ouch! is now looking to acquire final approval from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to operate in its regulatory sandbox. The company said that this comes as a prelude to their mission to become Malaysia’s first digital Takaful operator with the planned launch of its new digital Takaful product within the…
Southeast Asian payments platform Fave has partnered with Touch ‘n Go Group’s TNG Digital to launch a loyalty programme and earn up to 15 percent cashback across 17,000 F&B outlets and retailers. More than 18 million Touch ‘n Go eWallet users will be able to earn cashback through the Fave Loyalty Programme when they pay for purchases. Touch ‘n Go eWallet users can click on the Fave icon within the app and enter their phone number to link to the Fave account. Upon successful account linkage, user’s cashback will be merged into your Fave account. Users can get cashback by scanning…
Tune Protect Group announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Tune Protect Ventures (Tune Protect Life) has received Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) approval to participate in the Financial Technology Regulatory Sandbox. Tune Protect Life will provide simple and affordable pure life and health protection geared towards the unserved and underserved communities namely SMEs, B40 and M40. It is also looking at first time insurance buyers and those who are new-to-insurance with its products and propositions to drive financial inclusivity. Koot Chiew Ling, Principal Officer of Tune Protect Life said, “Our first proposition, SME EZY is an employee benefit insurance plan that…
Axiata Group’s fintech arm Boost announced that it has launched its Merchant B2B Wallet with a limit of up to RM500,000. The Merchant B2B Wallet is integrated into the existing Boost Biz app with a QR code payment functionality. The new wallet also offers the new ‘Instant Settlement and Payment’ feature that gives businesses immediate access to cash upon receipt. Merchants can also now instantly pay their business expenses such as utility bills and supplier invoices within the Boost Biz app itself. Additionally, merchants are also able to opt for the withdrawal request into their current bank accounts where it…
Indonesian fintech unicorn Xendit announced that it has officially made its entry into the Malaysian market to offer its payment solution for businesses. Former Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz had previously announced that Xendit would be relocating its financial hub to Malaysia following an investment from the Dana PENJANA programme. The programme is a RM600 million investment fund by the Malaysian government for the venture capital firms to invest in startups. Xendit has also announced an investment in local payment gateway provider Payex which is licensed by Bank Negara Malaysia. The collaboration will see Xendit bring its…