Former Fave executives Audra Pakalnyte and Joel Neoh have launched the early-stage First Move fund to invest in consumer-focused startups across Southeast Asia. Backed by venture capital firm 500 Global, the First Move fund will also be collaborating with the Consumer Tech Angel Syndicate, a close-knit group of experienced founders and executives in the consumer space. Members of the Angel Syndicate, which includes founders and senior executives from D2C, e- commerce, mobility and fintech scale-ups across Southeast Asia, will have co-invest in First Move deals. The fund aims to provide pre-seed funding of up to US$100,000 and already has a…
Author: Fintech News Malaysia
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Touch ‘n Go eWallet now offers complete payment coverage for on-street parking in both Kuala Lumpur and Selangor areas. The newly enabled councils are the Majlis Perbandaran Klang, Majlis Bandaraya Seremban – Nilai, and Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya. To make the payment, users can tap on the Parking icon under “Services” on the Touch ‘n Go eWallet home screen. They will need to select “Pay For Parking Now” to choose the location and add their vehicle details before proceeding to make the necessary payment. Users are now able to pay at more areas under the 19 enabled councils, covering areas…
Malaysian fintech company Jirnexu’s co-founder Hann Liew said that both he and Lucas Ooi will be stepping down from their executive roles in a LinkedIn post. Hann was previously an Executive Director and has now taken on the role of a non-Executive Director and Advisor. Meanwhile, Lucas was the Corporate Development Director and will now remain as an Advisor. Both Hann and Lucas will remain as shareholders and board members at Jirnexu moving forward. Siew Yuen Tuck will continue to lead the fintech as the Group CEO since his appointment last year end. The executive team will continue to be…
Hong Leong Bank (HLB) has tied up with earned wage access (EWA) service provider Paywatch Malaysia to launch the HLB Salary Advance Employer Solution. HLB claims to be the first bank in Southeast Asia to back an EWA solution. The HLB Salary Advance Employer Solution enables employees to withdraw up to 25% of their monthly earned salaries, whenever the need arises. There are no interest or late charges, except for a nominal service fee of RM 2 per withdrawal. To access the HLB Salary Advance Employer Solution, employees from participating organisations can create an account on the Paywatch app. Once approved,…
The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) announced the launch of FIKRA ACE, a fintech initiative that aims to enhance the Islamic capital market (ICM) ecosystem. FIKRA ACE is the enhanced, three-year initiative following the launch of SC’s inaugural Islamic fintech accelerator programme FIKRA in May 2021. The initiative now consists of 3 components; an accelerator programme focused on Islamic-solutions; a networking platform Circle to connect relevant stakeholders of the Islamic capital market and fintech industry; and the Excel platform for collaborations with higher learning institutions for capacity building. FIKRA ACE will identify companies with fintech solutions to nurture, grow, and connect…
The Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has developed its second Financial Inclusion Framework (2023–2026) to address several remaining barriers and challenges. The four-year strategic roadmap features a shift in the focus from accessibility and usage to achieving broader development outcomes as well as financial resilience and well-being. It outlines the seven policy objectives to address remaining gaps and accelerate the advancement of financial inclusion while laying out the four strategic enablers to support the effective implementation of the framework. The framework also looks into the achievement of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ESG propositions for higher value…
TNG Digital has partnered with Principal Asset Management to roll out eight new unit trust funds via GOinvest, a digital investment platform on Touch ‘n Go eWallet. Launched in August 2022, GOinvest’s first product offering was the Principal Islamic Money Market Fund. Touch ‘n Go eWallet users can start investing in the unit trust funds from as low as RM10 with no lock-in period or capped amount. Users can set up a regular savings plan via the auto cash-in function to invest a fixed amount every month to average down the risk for stable returns. The eight unit trust funds are…
It can be difficult for financial institutions to rely exclusively on physical branches for comprehensive service for certain markets, particularly those spanning large territories. In such cases, Modular Service Kiosks are the perfect alternative, extending financial and payment services to remote areas for the widest customer base. But these convenient machines’ advantages are not limited to coverage alone. One of the best avenues to improve overall customer experience is to avoid unnecessary frustration by cutting long waiting times. Toppan Gravity’s Modular Service Kiosks is designed for this exact purpose, streamlining commonly time-consuming processes such as onboarding while packing all the…
Malaysia’s Ministry of Finance has appointed Petronas’ e-payment solution Setel as one of the three e-wallet service providers for the eBeliaRahmah programme. The other two are Boost and Touch ‘n Go eWallet. Formerly known as eTunai Belia Rahmah, the programme enables Malaysian youths aged 18 to 20 or full-time students enrolled at institutes of higher learning to claim the RM200 one-off credit through the Setel app. Those eligible will need to download or update to the latest version of the Setel app and complete the account verification through e-KYC. The amount will be credited to the user’s eBeliaRahmah Wallet in the…
The advent of ISO 20022 signifies a monumental shift in the financial world, a transition that promises unprecedented transparency, efficiency, and improved risk management. This financial standard elevates transaction data richness to a new level by offering up to ten times more data elements per transaction. Its global adoption across the banking industry, regulators, and other financial players significantly transforms the once fragmented landscape into a unified field of standardized transactions. ISO 20022 comes with the potential of yielding higher quality data and thereby enhancing reconciliation rates. It could enable real-time and frictionless payments. Moreover, this new standard compels banking…
Touch ‘n Go eWallet has formed a strategic partnership with Bank Rakyat to enable in-app bill payments via JomPAY. JomPAY is the nation’s bill payment service which is run and operated by Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet), the national retail digital payments infrastructure provider in this country. Bank Rakyat is a participant of JomPAY. This partnership enables more than 20 million of Touch ‘n Go eWallet’s users to make bill payments to over 10,000 JomPAY billers. Bank Rakyat said that it will continue to explore partnerships with key e-wallet players in the market to enhance its digital payment capabilities. Dr. Mohammad…
Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim has launched a flagship capital market initiative to help ease the shortage of skilled talent in the field. The Capital Market Development Fund (CMDF) is funding this RM30 million graduate programme. Dubbed as investED, the initiative will help improve the knowledge and employability of 9,000 university graduates, especially for the capital market industry, over three years from 2023. The initiative is driven by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) with collaboration with the Ministry of Finance (MOF), the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), Bursa Malaysia and leading capital market industry players. The inaugural investED Leadership…
Petotum, a digital pet ecosystem integrator, has partnered with Etiqa General Insurance in Malaysia to provide enhanced coverage and streamlined services for pet owners. By leveraging on advanced technologies, data analytics and a customer-centric approach, Etiqa General Insurance and Petotum aims to offer comprehensive pet insurance products. Petotum said that pet owners can look forward to a user-friendly online platform that simplifies policy management and other pet-related services for them and their pets. Additionally, the collaboration will facilitate personalised pet health monitoring to ensure their well-being in the long run. Afifah Basir, CEO of Petotum said, “By integrating our ecosystem…
PETRONAS has announced the selection of 20 startups from across Asia Pacific to participate in the third edition of PETRONAS FutureTech, an intensive technology accelerator programme. The PETRONAS FutureTech 3.0, co-organised with StartupX, a Singapore-based innovation, venture and startup enabler, marks a significant milestone as it welcomes startups and partners from the region for the first time. The 20 startups were selected from a competitive pool of applicants representing Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, India and Australia. Arni Laily Anwarrudin, Head of PETRONAS Ventures said, “At PETRONAS, we are dedicated to support the growth of startup founders and fostering collaboration and innovation…
Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia will be promoting its shariah-compliant Islamic banking and finance offerings to users of TheNoor, a Muslim lifestyle app by Noor Luminous. TheNoor, which is fronted and was co-founded by celebrity and entrepreneur Hjh Noor Neelofa Mohd Noor, will introduce the bank’s—and its digital bank Rize’s—services to its audiences through advertising and promotional campaigns and an exclusive landing page. Officially launched on 17 February 2023, Rize enables its users to conduct all their banking activities on their smartphones without the need to go to a physical branch. As the official digital bank partner of TheNoor, Al Rajhi…
The Malaysian Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has launched the Belanjawanku mobile app and expenditure guide amidst low financial literacy and rising cost of living which has led to to Malaysians having low savings, over-indebtedness and youth bankruptcy. “This is where Belanjawanku comes into the picture as it serves as a guide for individual’s financial planning and debt management, in addition to recommending the amount of savings for future use and in unprecedented events,” said Prof. Datuk Dr Norma. Developed by EPF’s in-house team in August 2022, the app contains interactive features for users to track their expenses online. As of…
The Malaysia Co-Investment Fund (MyCIF) reported that a total of RM638 million have been co-invested in almost 35,000 equity crowd funding (ECF) and peer-to-peer (P2P) financing campaigns in 2022, benefitting some 3,635 Malaysian MSMEs. In its Annual Report 2022 released today, MyCIF found that the total funds raised by ECF and P2P platforms rose by RM300 million to RM1.7 billion in 2022 from 2021. Of the total, MyCIF invested RM282 million compared to RM193 million in 2021. MyCIF said the 26% year-on-year growth in the overall ECF and P2P markets reflected the growing investor and business interest in alternative financing options.…
American multinational company Equinix plans to open a data center in Kuala Lumpur in Q1 2024 following its expansion announcement last year to enter Malaysia with one in Johor. This will mean an additional investment of more than US$100 million to help businesses capitalise on the country’s digital transformation and economic growth. The new facility in Kuala Lumpur, named KL1, will be located in Cyberjaya within Kuala Lumpur. The first phase of KL1 will provide an initial capacity of 450 cabinets and colocation space of 1,300 square meters. When fully built, it will provide a total of 900 cabinets and…
The costs and complexity of legacy banking technology have firmly established the need for financial institutions to modernise their systems. Banks must move away from legacy infrastructure that constrains innovation and prevents them from providing the real-time, personalised banking experiences that customers have come to expect. Banks can unlock greater flexibility, enhanced resilience, and lower operational costs by moving core technology into the cloud. In the past, banks may have adopted a big bang migration approach to move to a new core platform. This would entail a single migration phase in which all product data was extracted, transformed and loaded…
Datuk Shaik Abdul Rasheed bin Abdul Ghaffour has been appointed as the Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) for a five-year term effective 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2028. He will succeed Tan Sri Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus who completes her five-year term on 30 June 2023. Datuk Abdul Rasheed joined the Bank in 1988, rising to the position of Deputy Governor in 2016. Over the span of his career in the bank, Datuk Abdul Rasheed has helmed various senior positions. He is currently a member of the Monetary Policy Committee and Financial Stability Committee, a position he has…