Author: Fintech News Malaysia

Angkatan Koperasi Kebangsaan Malaysia Berhad’s (ANGKASA) subsdiary MyAngkasa Digital Services, Boustead Holdings Berhad, and another party that they described as ” one of the world’s largest independent insurance brokerage company ” to apply for an Islamic digital banking license from Bank Negara Malaysia. In a statement ANGKASA said that this bid also includes strategic partnerships with Mambu, AWS and e-money operator MCash. During the initial foundation period, the consortium said it will focus on its captive market of 7 million people and at least 10,000 co-operatives, most of which are in the unserved and underserved segments. They also revealed that…

E-commerce platform PUC announced that it has formed a consortium with two unnamed state governments and a conglomerate to submit an application for a digital bank license to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM). The consortium is led by PUC, making it a wholly Malaysian consortium. PUC was formerly known as 11street which has since been renamed Presto in line with its e-wallet product Presto Wallet. The consortium was formed under the digital banking framework issued by BNM. PUC said in a statement that “its members recognise the gap presented by the under-served segments which include micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs)…

BigPay has officially submitted its application for a digital banking licence to Bank Negara Malaysia. BigPay’s consortium include Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Berhad (MIDF), Ikhlas Capital and a foreign conglomerate with fintech expertise. They said in a statement that each of the consortium partners is contributing something unique for the success of BigPay Bank. In addition to the consortium partners, BigPay is part of the airasia Group and has access to a broad ecosystem that includes eCommerce merchants and consumers, insurance and telecoms. Over the past 4 years, BigPay has successfully added a number of regulated financial products to its…

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) platform Split announced that its services has been reviewed and certified as a Shariah-compliant by the Masyref Advisory, a local advisory firm devoted to Islamic banking and finance. Split said that it is the first BNPL operator to have their offerings certified as Shariah-compliant by the advisory firm. The Shariah certification of Split provides assurance to both Muslim consumers and merchants with the confidence to use Split’s BNPL payment service that is in accordance with Islamic principles. The criteria involved in Masryef’s Shariah assessment includes the structure of the business model and the process flow.…

Axiata Digital, through its subsidiary Aspirasi, will be collaborating with the Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia (CGC) for a potential digital bank guarantee. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aims to accelerate financial inclusion for the underserved and unserved segments. Aspirasi provides fully digital micro-financing and micro-insurance solutions to financially assist and empower underserved micro-small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the region. Through the MoU both entities will explore extending a Portfolio Guarantee for the future Digital Bank’s SME focused loans, which will be an extension of Aspirasi’s current discussions for a similar facility with CGC. Aspirasi will also collaborate with CGC…

On 31st December 2020, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) unveiled its digital banking guidelines which almost immediately garnered interest from 40 parties. In this new guideline, the central bank will be issuing up to 5 digital bank licenses in 2022, with the deadline for submission on 30th June 2021. During a chat with Fintech Fireside Asia, Suhaimi Ali, Director, Financial Development and Innovation at BNM shared the central bank’s vision for Malaysia’s digital banks. When designing the framework, Suhaimi said that the central bank is cognizant of the fact that these upcoming digital banks have not gone through the full economic…

The Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) has granted Innov8tif Solutions a patent for its method of verifying the authenticity of a Malaysian identity document using a computer vision algorithm known as microprint detection technique. Microprint is a security feature found in Malaysian identity cards (IC), various government issued identity documents around the world, and banknotes. Microprint detection technique is a key feature in Innov8tif’s EMAS OkayDoc product – part of the company’s EMAS eKYC suite, to effectively determine if an image of identity document was captured from genuine IC or a colour-printed copy. This is achieved by analysing the…

Axiata Digital’s e-wallet Boost has introduced three new micro-insurance and takaful plans under ‘Boost Protect’ to further provide Malaysians with affordable and premium coverage. The addition of MozzieProtect, FamilyProtect and Critical Illness Care bring the total coverage plans to 13. These offerings were underwritten by three Great Eastern entities; Great Eastern Life Assurance (Malaysia), Great Eastern General Insurance (Malaysia) and Great Eastern Takaful. Great Eastern had previously invested US$70 million into Axiata Digital in June 2020, which was the largest fintech investment at that time. As a value-added benefit, the three new plans come with COVID-19 Vaccine Fund Assistance. Additionally,…

Malaysia’s central bank will be running a proof-of-concept (PoC) project to gauge the merits of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) with an initial focus on wholesale CBDCs, Suhaimi Ali, Director of Financial Development and Innovation at Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), said during a Fintech Fireside Asia session. He revealed that at the initial stage BNM is unlikely to focus on a retail CBDC similar to China’s digital yuan or Sweden’s e-krona. “We acknowledge that the CBDC landscape is evolving very rapidly, particularly over the past year due to the rapidly evolving digital assets and payment space which has prompted…

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) today launched a cross-border QR payment linkage between Malaysia and Thailand. Under this linkage, consumers and merchants in both countries will be able to make and receive instant cross-border QR code payments. The project that commenced in June 2020 will be completed in three phases. Today marks the completion of the first phase in linking the real-time retail payment systems of RPP/ DuitNow in Malaysia and PromptPay in Thailand. Thailand has also similarly entered into an arrangement with Singapore for an interoperable payments system. Under the first phase, users in…

The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) announced the appointment of Ruslena Ramli as its Director of Fintech and Islamic Digital Economy, a role previously held by Norhizam Kadir who has served in MDEC for over 5 years. She will report to Gopi Ganesalingam, Vice President, Tech Ecosystem and Globalisation, and is tasked to lead the Fintech and Islamic Digital Economy (FIDE) team at MDEC. Ruslena Ramli began her career as an investment banker with SIME Merchant Bank (acquired by Public Bank) in 1997. She then expanded her career with RAM Rating Services Berhad’s (RAM) in 1999, before joining the Islamic…

pitchIN, a Malaysian equity crowdfunding platform (ECF), announced that it has concluded its very own equity crowdfunding campaign on Leet Capital with RM 5.5 million raised from 322 investors. This fundraise will enable pitchIN to expand its operations to serve more businesses and investors as well as offer new services. Additionally, pitchIN will open a secondary market for its ECF platform later this year and it has also applied for a license to operate an IEO platform with plans to launch more services in the next few years. The 322 investors consisted of retail, angel and sophisticated investors and included several…

Oyen, a digital-first pet healthcare insurance provider based in Malaysia, has raised US$420,000 in a seed funding round. The fundraise saw participation by notable backers such as Hustle Fund, alongside angel investors who are former and current executives from Airbnb, Facebook, and Rocket Internet. The company said will use the funds to enhance its proprietary digital insurance platform and reinforce its market position within Malaysia’s pet healthcare insurance ecosystem. Oyen said in a statement that it is aggressively expanding its recruitment in various roles. Additionally, the firm will also move towards offering more holistic pet healthcare services to pet owners…

myTukar, a Malaysian pre-owned car buying and selling platform, has announced a partnership with local insurtech firm PolicyStreet.com to offer insurance policies for pre-owned car purchases. Through the collaboration, myTukar’s wholesale and retail customers can now receive insurance quotations instantly with access to most major insurance providers within its platform. The services support both new car insurance as well as renewals. myTukar is the partner of PolicyStreet.com and is one of the first online car retailers to provide insurance from multiple companies. Some of the insurance providers that have come onboard with myTukar via PolicyStreet.com include Allianz General Insurance Company…

Merchantrade Asia, a digital money services business operator and e-money issuer, has partnered with palm plantation management solutions provider LintraMax in an effort to digitise the payroll for underserved plantations workers. In this partnership, both entities will reach out to the plantations’ workers to introduce them to Merchantrade Money, a digital wallet from Merchantrade. Merchantrade said in a statement that digital wages payment solutions can help companies reduce risks associated with using or having cash. The solutions can also help minimise physical contact during the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure transparency in the company’s payroll. Through the e-wallet, workers will receive…

Southeast Asian SME digital financing platform Funding Societies has announced a partnership with Foodpanda to offer short-term digital financing solutions for registered merchants under the latter’s network. The collaboration which has collectively disbursed RM1 million in financing, enables local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with greater access to business financing opportunities. This is to facilitate businesses’ operation needs, expansions, as well as to help ensure sustainability of the MSMEs particularly in this uncertain pandemic-hit economy. As many as 20,000 to 30,000 merchants across multiple segments under the Foodpanda network stand to benefit from tailored financing solutions offered by Funding…

For banks, becoming digital leaders takes more than a stylish mobile app interface and a shift in the organisational structure; it also requires a culture that embraces experimentation and risk-taking, senior executives from banking institutions in Malaysia and fintech software provider Backbase said. During a webinar hosted by Fintech News Malaysia, C-levels at Hong Leong Bank, AmBank Group, Maybank and Backbase delved into why it is key for financial institutions to instill a culture of innovation, the key challenges they’ve faced in their digital journeys, and shared some of the initiatives they’ve put in place to retain and attract new…

GrabPay, the in-app wallet of superapp Grab, announced that it has recently rolled out the GrabPay DuitNow QR feature across the country. The e-wallet was the first in Malaysia to sign-up with PayNet this feature which is now widely available. Operated by PayNet, DuitNow QR is Malaysia’s National QR designed to encourage nationwide adoption of cashless payments and the digital economy through the use of an interoperable QR code. DuitNow QR will provide consumers with a safe, easy payment method for in-store purchases, and give merchants access to the millions of consumers who have adopted the digital-first lifestyle. According to…

Touch ‘n Go Group today announced that its GO+ users have surpassed the 1 million mark in just over two months following its launch in March 2021. Effendy Shahul Hamid, Group Chief Executive Officer at Touch ‘n Go Group said in a statement that this milestone is well ahead of our internal estimates as it had projected to hit a million users mark at the end of this year. Touch ‘n Go added in a statement that 73% of GO+ users are from outside the Klang Valley and that number has continued to grow. GO+ is a financially inclusive investment…

Ata Plus, an equity crowdfunding (ECF) platform and Recognised Market Operator (RMO) registered with the Securities Commission Malaysia, announced the appointment of Karen Puah as its Chief Operating Officer (COO). At Ata Plus, aside from amplifying the brand visibility, Karen will focus on growing the stakeholder ecosystem to drive deal flow generation, expand investor channels and value-added services. Additionally, she will also look into exploring new areas of growth, business opportunities and revenue streams. Karen was recently elected as the President of The Fintech Association of Malaysia, having previously held the Vice-President position for 2 terms. At present, she is…