The state government of Sarawak has joined forces with Kenanga Investment Bank and Revenue Group to submit an application for a digital banking license from Bank Negara Malaysia. The three entities formed a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for a consortium named SSG Digital Resources Berhad for this purpose. The consortium was formed with the aim to improve and transform the lives of underserved and unserved Malaysians, including individuals and micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) through transparent and affordable digital banking solutions. Sarawak has emerged as the third state government to throw its hat in the ring to bid for one…

CIMB Bank and CIMB Islamic Bank have launched the CIMB OctoSavers Savings Account-i, its first all-digital Islamic account where the account opening and onboarding process is self-executed entirely online. New customers will receive the newly launched Octo Debit Mastercard through mail for a convenient branchless experience. The fully online account opening procedure is made possible through leveraging Bank Negara’s electronic Know-Your-Customer (e-KYC) guidelines. The new end-to-end digital onboarding helps to further safeguard customers’ health during the pandemic by not having them step foot in a branch. New customers who are Malaysian citizens aged 18 years and above may apply for…

Malaysian telecommunications service provider U Mobile’s standalone e-wallet GoPayz has collaborated with gold bullion trader ACE Capital Growth (ACE), a subsidiary of Ace Innovate Asia, to launch GoGold. This latest digital service found on the GoPayz app enables users to buy and sell digital gold on ACE’s secure and Shariah-compliant platform with ease. U Mobile claims that this is one of the lowest gold price spreads in the Malaysian market. Apart from that, GoGold also offers great accessibility as users may opt to purchase digital gold from as low as RM5. To mark the launch of GoGold, the first 5,000…

Singapore’s wealth platform iFAST Corporation announced that the group’s Malaysian operation, iFAST Capital, has launched trading capabilities in US and Hong Kong-listed securities. The offerings include stocks and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) on FSMOne, its Business-to-Consumer (B2C) online multi-asset digital investment platform, which caters to self-directed investors. The addition of US and Hong Kong stockbroking services in Malaysia follows the introduction of stocks and ETFs listed on the local stock exchange in March 2021. This is in line with the group’s objective of providing a comprehensive wealth management platform in Malaysia, similar to its other core markets such as Singapore…

Homegrown e-wallet Boost has introduced three new bill payment features to provide Malaysians with the ability to pay their bills with a tap of a button without the hassle of multiple payment platforms and portals. The new features; AutoBills, MultiBills and ViewBills are available on a single, centralised platform in the Boost app. Of the three new features, AutoBills allow users to set automated recurring monthly payments. MultiBills, on the other hand, allows users to pay multiple bills in one go. This feature can be likened to adding all bills due into a shopping cart and paying them all easily…

Publicly listed PUC Berhad, the e-commerce platform that was formerly known as 11street, revealed that Sabah and Pahang are the two state governments that it has partnered with to bid for one of the 5 digital banking licenses that Bank Negara Malaysia will issue early next year. PUC is leading the consortium with another unnamed conglomerate in addition to the other two state governments. The consortium said that it recognises that there is a sizeable under-served segment which includes micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and B40 segment consumers (the bottom 40% of the Malaysian household income) in the country.…

Simply stated, synthetic identity theft is when a fraudster combines the personal information of different real-life people to create an authentic-looking digital identity. These identities can include Personally Identifiable Information (PII) such as name, identity card number, birth date and home address (including the use of children’s IDs since they have no credit records). This data often comes from the global breaches we hear about on a near-daily basis. When these data points are combined in the right way, new identities are crafted to use the real-world parts to create a convincing online consumer. Yet, synthetic identity theft isn’t a…

UOB Malaysia announced the launch of a digital account opening service that enable customers to open a personal bank account anytime, anywhere via the bank’s UOB Mighty app. The bank said that its customers can now complete the onboarding process in just 10 minutes, reducing the average time it typically takes to open an account in person by up to 60 percent. This move was made possible thanks to the e-KYC guidelines that Bank Negara Malaysia had released in June 2020 in preparation for its digital banking push in the country. Upon submitting the application, customers will receive a notification…

AIA Malaysia announced that it will be taking a minor stake in TNG Digital, the owner of Touch ‘n Go eWallet, as part of a long-term strategic partnership. The Edge reported that this move will make AIA the fourth shareholder of TNG Digital in addition to CIMB Group Holdings, China’s Ant Group and New York-based investment firm Bow Wave Capital Management. The report quoted a source saying that this “values TNG Digital at about US$700 million or approximately RM3 billion”. TNG Digital was said to be seeking to raise up to US$150 million by end of 2021 which will surpass…

A recent study of 2,000 global consumers by Mambu, a banking and financial services platform, revealed that both banked and unbanked individuals feel underserved, with 56% of banked customers claiming that there are other services they should be able to access. “With more than 290 million unbanked adults across Southeast Asia, the data that’s usually reported points us to emerging markets and geographical barriers to access; however, even consumers who are banked have reported gaps in financial accessibility,” said Myles Bertrand, Managing Director Asia Pacific, at Mambu. “Personalisation is going to be key for banks if they want to avoid…

Singapore-based buy now pay later (BNPL) platform Atome announced that its order volume in Malaysia has grown by 100X in the first half of the year. The company also added that its online and offline merchant network has grown to serve more than 500 retailers now, a 500% increase from when it first launched in Malaysia at the end of 2020. They said that the rapid growth of the company comes against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic and the extension of the movement control order (MCO) which has seen local retailers struggle. For retailers, especially SMEs, Atome said that…

CIMB Bank and its Islamic subsidiary have introduced the EVA chatbot for small and medium enterprise (SME) customers, a conversational style and real-time commercial banking chatbot in Malaysia. EVA was first launched for retail customers in 2016 and was updated in 2018 to include additional functionalities. They said the platform was developed to better support SME customers’ banking needs in a fast and secure manner. It is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and can handle a large number of simultaneous queries from SMEs, with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP). CIMB…

Despite playing a significant role in Southeast Asian economies, most small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) still have limited access to financing and remain to this day largely underserved by traditional banks. According to the World Bank IFC’s estimates, there is a US$320 billion SME funding gap throughout Southeast Asia today, meaning that about 51% of the region’s SMEs are currently underserved. Adding to this have been the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures put in place by governments to contain outbreaks. These have had devastating effects on Southeast Asia’s micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), causing massive dislocation and highlighting the…

Malaysian fintech company Jirnexu announced that it has signed strategic partnership agreements with more than five consortia in their bids for a digital banking license. They said that with Jirnexu’s broad customer base and in-depth understanding of their financial needs through RinggitPlus.com, the digital banking contenders can build a holistic portfolio for their license bid in this selection period. In a bid to improve the nation’s financial literacy, Jirnexu had launched financial comparison website RinggitPlus.com in 2013. RinggitPlus has developed a credit score system, called X-Score, by using its proprietary data from its digitally sourced credit card and personal loan…

CapBay, a Malaysian P2P supply chain financing platform, launches CapBay Assure; a guarantee programme that protects an investor’s principal and interest through a reserve fund while ensuring net returns (after fees) of up to 6% p.a. The Assure Programme is designed to guarantee principal and interest payouts via a reserve fund that maintains a coverage ratio which is three to five times the expected default rate. CapBay was part of the second batch of P2P licence recipients in 2019 and launched its P2P platform amidst the COVID-19 situation with the intention of widening investment opportunities and providing access to financing…

Visa released new findings from its study which highlighted that over 74% are aware and 66 percent are interested in using digital banking services. According to the Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes study, the nation has seen a significant acceleration in digital adoption due to the pandemic in the past 18 months. Many Malaysians have changed the way they work, pay, and even bank. Visa said that this is a positive outlook for those who had submitted their applications for the digital banking licenses issued by Bank Negara Malaysia. It has become a societal norm to avoid crowds and limit face-to-face…

Melbourne-based tech venture builder and accelerator Fatfish Group (FFG) announced that it is establishing a new retail Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) brand PaySlowSlow in South East Asia. PaySlowSlow will be its flagship brand that will be undertaking FFG’s retail BNPL business in Southeast Asia. FFG said that it “aims to make PaySlowSlow a prominent retail BNPL brand that will be active in various major geographical markets of Southeast Asia”. The first geographical market in which Fatfish intends to introduce the PaySlowSlow brand will be Malaysia, where various FFG businesses have presence in. PaySlowSlow Sdn. Bhd. has been incorporated as…

BigPay is accelerating its entrance into Thailand following Airasia’s recent acquisition of Gojek’s Thailand business through its digital arm in a deal worth RM208 million (US$50 million). This move comes ahead of AirAsia’s plans to launch a super app in early August. According to The Edge, AirAsia Group’s Chief Executive Officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said that “Gojek’s investment is valued at US$40 million while GoPay’s is at US$10 million, and these will be transferred into shares for the AirAsia Super App, which is valued at US$1 billion”. This will mean that the Indonesian ride-hailing app will hold a 4.76%…

Malaysian fintech startup MoneyMatch announced today the successful closing of its Series A fundraising round totaling MYR 18.5 million over two tranches, initially led by Cradle Seed Ventures in 2019 and now has been closed with KAF Investment Bank leading the second tranche earlier this year, subject to final regulatory approval. As part of the fundraising round, MoneyMatch also secured a venture debt facility under Malaysia Debt Ventures’ Technology Startups Funding Relief Facility. Fresh off the recent funding round led by KAF Investment Bank, MoneyMatch has stated that it is looking to further expand its presence to Singapore and Hong…

Singaporean Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) platform Atome announced that it has partnered with Pine Labs, an India-based merchant commerce platform, to expand its BNPL acceptance in Malaysia. They said that this offering enables seamless, flexible instalment payment options across over thousands of merchant establishments in Malaysia that are already on the Pine Labs’ network. Pine Labs said in a statement that it has “pioneered the BNPL category in India where it now has 95% market share of offline BNPL services”. The company has already onboarded merchants and top banks like CIMB Bank, AmBank, HSBC Bank, AFFIN BANK, and RHB…