GHL Systems has introduced CARDit which is a platform that utilises a consumer’s credit card limit by allowing them to pay via a credit card to payees that traditionally do not accept credit cards. While CARDit is available to both businesses and individuals, GHL said that it would be especially beneficial to Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), facilitating credit card payments for suppliers, thus improving business cash flow. Using CARDit, consumers and businesses can move these regular payments from cash, cheque or bank transfers to their credit cards. CARDit charges a one-off transaction fee and offers reward points similar to…

Banking and financial services platform Mambu released its research series named the Disruption Diaries which seeks to understand what people think of the key trends driving the development of financial services. In Mambu’s third edition, the firm conducted a global survey of 2,000 members of the younger Muslim community mainly the Gen Z and millennials to understand what Islamic finance means to them, as well as their expectations of this sector. As one of the fastest-growing financial industries, Islamic finance continues to grow in size and influence spreading far beyond the Middle East into Muslim-majority countries in Asia and Africa,…

Touch ‘n Go Group (TNG) has introduced a new Premium tier to its Touch ‘n Go eWallet users which offers an increased e-wallet size of RM20,000 and an annual transaction limit of RM300,000. With that, the TNG eWallet now has three tiers namely Lite, Pro and Premium. The Pro tier is applicable for a verified Electronic Know-Your-Customer (eKYC) account and can hold a maximum balance of RM5,000 with a monthly transaction limit of RM5,000. A Lite tier, however, is applicable for an unverified TNG eWallet account that can only hold a maximum of RM200. Users can now upgrade their eWallet…

Kiplepay, a wholly owned subsidiary of Green Packet, has partnered with Visa to introduce the Kiple Visa Prepaid Card. The partnership, which was first announced in 2020, has rolled out the prepaid card which builds on Kiple’s Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS) ecosystem. The Kiple Visa Prepaid Card will enable customers, such as students, to go cashless while also facilitating enterprises to fast-track their e-payment solutions in response to the growing demand for cashless services. On the consumer front, the prepaid card is designed to provide customers instant access to over 70 million merchants in over 200 countries and territories, and can be…

HSBC Malaysia announced that it has launched the DuitNow Request feature for corporates to streamline the collection of repetitive payments from multiple customers. This secure, real time payment feature does away with the need for businesses to constantly follow up with customers who fail to make their payments. The DuitNow Request is an extension of Payments Network Malaysia’s (PayNet) DuitNow ecosystem that allows businesses to make payments using their Business Registration Number (BRN). HSBC said that this offering will benefit businesses of any scale across different industries to help them transform and digitise their collections by making it more seamless…

In week two of Fintech News Malaysia and Huawei’s Digital Banking Symposium, we continue the conversation by speaking to Malaysia’s digital banking aspirants. In our previous session Malaysian incumbent banks’ CEOs remarked that while digital banks will shake things up, it is not seen as a threat to incumbents. The digital banking aspirants present for the panel discussion unsurprisingly did not agree with that assessment. Salim Dhanani, CEO and Co-founder of BigPay said, “In the short term, I would tend to agree [that digital banks will not pose a threat to incumbent banks] because the focus of digital banks will…

While news headlines broadcasting Buy Now, Pay Later’s (BNPL) incredible adoption trajectory are a daily occurrence, innovative lenders know that BNPL offers more than a growth story. It’s an opportunity to make headlines about how their business is empowering consumers and driving significant growth in financial inclusion across the Asia Pacific region. BNPL: Good for Consumers For many BNPL’s role is to provide consumers with a better checkout experience and interest free alternative to credit cards, it also offers the promise of being able to provide easily accessible and sustainable credit to non-banked and underbanked consumers. “With the average funding…

jomSETTLE™, a fintech platform developed by Mazer Fintech Sdn. Bhd., announced that it is the first fintech to be admitted into the National Technology & Innovation Sandbox (NTIS) spearheaded by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Malaysia (MOSTI). The company empowers businesses especially micro businesses and individuals to pay and receive credit card payments virtually from customers or tenant; without the need for a website, payment gateway, or credit card terminal. “We aspire to reshape the negative perception of credit cards, which are frequently associated with irresponsible and impulsive spending. With jomSETTLE™, customers can now use their credit cards…

Touch ‘n Go Group (TNG) and Principal Asset Management today jointly announced that Principal e-Cash Fund, the underlying fund for Touch ‘n Go’s GO+, is now Shariah-compliant. TNG said in a statement that this makes GO+ fund Malaysia’s first shariah compliant e-wallet product. Through this Shariah-compliant fund, Touch ‘n Go added that its “customers will still gain access to low-risk money market investments for as low as RM10 and earn the same potential return on daily basis whilst being able to use the funds for all transaction over its e-wallet”. GO+ was first launched in March 2021 and has currently…

Airasia Money today announced the roll out of digital car insurance products made possibe thanks to a partnership with local insurtech firm, PolicyStreet. The services offered includes insurance and road tax renewal and price comparison of various insurance. Amanda Woo, airasia Super App CEO said, “Customers can expect more fintech offerings on the airasia Super App as we continue to strengthen, innovate and stay relevant in the market through airasia money. Our partnership with PolicyStreet enables us to offer greater options, value and speed in the digital car insurance market. AirAsia has always been about inclusivity. Much like how AirAsia…

Regulatory changes, advances in technology, and the entry of new players in the Malaysian banking sector are forcing incumbents to embrace cutting edge technologies and build strategic ties to remain competitive, experts said during Huawei and Fintech News Malaysia’s Digital Banking Symposium. C-levels from Hong Leong Bank, Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad, TNG Digital and Huawei Cloud, gathered for a live panel discussion organised to discuss key trends shaping the banking sector and the implications of the country’s forthcoming digital banks. Top trends happening in Malaysia’s BFSI space Domenic Fuda, Group Managing Director and CEO of Hong Leong Bank, said the…

Malaysia-based insurtech firm VSure.life has secured a RM12 million investment from ACE market-listed Revenue Group through its wholly-owned subsidiary company Revenue Harvest as well as approved by Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) to participate in its fintech sandbox. The partnership between VSure and Revenue Group enables the company to access the latter’s B2B2C payment ecosystem and solutions to further strengthen its offerings to Malaysians. Additionally, the firm said in a statement that the approval from BNM indicates its readiness to be commercially tested in the Malaysian market as a lifestyle digital insurer. In the initial stage, VSure will be rolling out…

WorldRemit, a London-based digital cross-border payments company, has officially launched its money transfer services for Malaysian customers via its app and web platform. Customers can now send money from Malaysia, in addition to 50 other countries including the UK and the USA, to more than 130 destinations. Depending on their location, customers can choose from multiple payout methods for the recipient including bank deposits, payments to mobile wallets, cash pick-up and mobile airtime top-up. Previously, WorldRemit had participated in Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Fintech Regulatory Sandbox Framework but was unsuccessful and pursued the licensing route instead. WorldRemit is currently fully…

The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) and Maybank have jointly launched the Maybank-Bakong Cross Border Funds Transfer, a real-time funds transfer service between Malaysia and Cambodia through the NBC’s Bakong e-wallet and Maybank’s MAE app. Bakong is a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) project developed by NBC, the first central bank in South East Asia to do so. Maybank is the first bank in the world to partner the NBC for its Bakong international payment and remittance system. The service allows Maybank customers in Malaysia to transfer funds directly to their friends, family or business partners in Cambodia via…

Digital bank aspirant BigPay announced today that it has finalised up to US$100 million in financing from South Korean conglomerate SK Group. This is the first time any portfolio company within airasia Digital has secured financing of this size. The funding from one of South Korea’s largest conglomerates and tech innovator further strengthens AirAsia’s digital endeavour as it accelerates the scope of growth for its digital businesses, including logistics and financial services. The funding comes a few weeks after BigPay announced its application for a Malaysian digital banking license. BigPay had entered into a consortium with Malaysian financial institution MIDF…

Torum, DeFi and NFT social media platform that is specially designed for cryptocurrency users, announced an undisclosed strategic investment by Huobi Ventures, the US$100 million venture arm of Huobi Group, to foster blockchain adoption and ecosystem expansion. On the eve of the project’s first-year launch anniversary, Torum released its H2 strategic ecosystem expansion plan, prioritising the construction of a one-stop crypto ecosystem. The plan includes core features that aim to solve the industry’s information asymmetry problems and improve the connection between projects and communities through a social-based ecosystem. The expansion plan has caught the attention of the Huobi Ventures’ HECO…

Merchantrade Asia has partnered with NPCI International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), to offer real-time remittances to India through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). UPI is an instant real-time payment system developed by  NPCI to facilitate inter-bank transactions that is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India. This partnership will enable Merchantrade and its network to connect to NPCI and facilitate remittance to banks in India via UPI IDs. International partners will be able to transfer funds to beneficiaries on-boarded on UPI apps which means anyone from the Merchantrade network will be able to make…

Fave, Southeast Asia’s payments app, has emerged as another non-bank participant to offer DuitNow QR, Malaysia’s national QR standard to merchants in the country. This move was made possible through a partnership with the Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet). The introduction of FavePay DuitNow QR will enable customers to use a single preferred QR code to make payments at 20,000 restaurants and retailers nationwide using the Fave app or other digital wallets and mobile banking apps. Fave aims to simplify the mobile payment landscape while allowing merchants to gain access to 32 participating banks and major e-wallets as well as declutter…

Huawei held its first virtual Asia-Pacific Intelligent Finance Summit 2021 with the theme “Accelerate Digital Transformation in Banking, New Value Together” on 29 July 2021. As economies across the Asia-Pacific region continue to recover and rebound, leading banks and financial institutions are accelerating digital transformation, seizing new digitalisation opportunities to reinvent themselves for what the future holds. This event attracted more than 1,300 financial industry customers, partners, industry experts and media across Asia-Pacific regions. Huawei invited its core customers and partners from the  financial industry which includes the likes of BDO Unibank, KASIKORN Business – Technology Group (KBTG), PwC and…

Hong Leong Bank is calling all budding disruptors to join its ‘Can You Hack It’ Virtual Hackathon ASEAN Edition 2021 to find and co-create Innovative solutions focused on ESG. This virtual hackathon themed ‘Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”)’ aims to get creative ideas and unique solutions on how people in the region interpret ESG and how technology can be leveraged to improve digital banking products, services and experiences. With the focus on ESG, this year’s problem statement categories include community banking, community investment, climate-positive financing, socially responsible business and financial literacy. Teams are expected to use the likes of big…