Author: Fintech News Malaysia

UOB Malaysia and Citi Malaysia have received regulatory approval from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) for UOB’s acquisition of Citi’s consumer banking business in the country. Following the approval, both sides will apply for a vesting order from the High Court of Malaya to transfer Citi’s consumer banking assets and liabilities to UOB Malaysia. The transaction, which was proposed on on 14 January 2022, is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2022. Upon completion, all of Citi Malaysia’s retail banking and consumer credit card business as well as its consumer bank employees will be transferred to UOB Malaysia.…

Data enrichment, the process of enhancing internal data with relevant, contextual data obtained from external sources, is critical for financial services companies looking to get the most out of their investments in artificial intelligence (AI), allowing them to build more accurate predictive models and improve decision-making, says Mobilewalla, a Singapore-based consumer intelligence solutions provider. In a new paper titled Improving Predictive Modeling Accuracy for Fintechs with Data-Centric AI, the firm explores why data quality, breadth, and depth are crucial for businesses to build accurate predictive models, and how data enrichment and feature engineering benefit AI in fintech. According to the…

eKYC company tekkis, backed by HeiTech Padu Berhad, launched two software solutions called t-Pay and t-Verify to enable businesses to collect payments and onboard verified customers through no-code payment links and embedded identity verification. t-Pay can be integrated into any website or app to accept online payments. It also comes with features that give businesses the ability to save their favourite payees and add them to pre-filled payment forms, as well as create payment links for fixed and variable amounts. t-Verify helps companies ensure that their customers are real people with verified identities. The solution allows users to scan their…

Boost has launched its refreshed brand, along with an update on future plans. The refreshed brand introduces refined visual elements and a new “Be Unstoppable” tagline. Boost’s brand refresh is the next phase of the company’s repositioning exercise that started last year after unifying Axiata’s digital financial services under one roof. “We hope to help people feel unburdened by their financial woes, and to have the freedom to explore infinite possibilities – that is what it means to ‘Be Unstoppable’,” said Diana Boo, Chief Marketing Officer of Boost. Since then, Boost has extended its offerings beyond cashless payments into alternative…

French and Malaysian payment solution providers Ingenico and Paysys have signed an agreement to combine their business strengths to address the Malaysian payment market. Ingenico is part of the Worldline group, while Paysys is a wholly owned subsidiary of GHL Systems. Under the agreement, Ingenico will sell some of its business and customer assets in Malaysia to GHL, allowing it to reinforce its presence in the country by combining its broad range of payment solutions with Paysys’ extensive market knowledge. Paysys will provide customers in Malaysia with Ingenico’s payment solutions, including access to its terminal management and professional services, and…

BigPay, a Capital A venture company, has introduced enhancements to its recently launched goal-based savings offering – Stashes. Through its Round-Up feature, users can opt to round up their transactions to the nearest Ringgit to be automatically put into the Stash that is separate from their BigPay wallet balance. Since its initial launch less than a month ago, BigPay users have accumulated over 100,000 Stash and round up transactions. BigPay users will be now able to create multiple Stashes for different objectives and customisable saving goals. Individual Stashes can also be further personalised by adding images, descriptions, and rules like…

Versa Asia, a Malaysian digital cash management platform, announced that it had secured an 8-figure funding round. Details of the investment was not disclosed. This funding round was led by Hibiscus Fund, a venture capital fund managed by RHL Ventures and South Korean financial services conglomerate KB Investment. Recurring investor Affin Hwang Asset Management also participated in this round, alongside new investors OSK Ventures and Singapore based HPRY Ventures. Versa is currently a CIP Ignite II grant recipient under Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle) for commercialisation and is said to have doubled its deliverables thus far. In addition to the…

Consumer digital adoption and expanding regulatory frameworks in APAC present significant prospects for digital banking. COVID-19 has enhanced this potential by boosting digital adoption and highlighting the paths to digital banking growth. Building and developing a digital bank successfully necessitates a focus on three success pillars that encourage client interaction and assure vital business agility; customer obsession, scalable and flexible technology as well as agile organisation and governance. Successful digital banks are always focused on what their local customers want. They offer a strong value proposition and enticing product characteristics, which they reinforce through market testing on a regular basis.…

Maybank has designed its own Sustainable Product Framework (SPF) to enable greater development of green, social and sustainable products. The framework will be implemented group-wide across Islamic and conventional products effective 1 September 2022. In keeping with best practices adopted by global peers, this framework covers products offered under corporate lending, debt and equity capital markets, trade financing, retail financing, insurance, asset and wealth management, derivatives and deposits. The main aim of the framework is to help Maybank’s business teams have clarity in developing green, social and sustainable products by looking at the intended use of the proceeds from the…

Data science and machine learning are some of the most complex yet important business concepts today. And many companies, irrespective of their niche, rely on them to deliver a better user experience to their customers. But what role do data science and machine learning play in the development of innovative financial systems, especially in countries like Indonesia? The lack of credit history data combined with the substantial use of mobile phones in Indonesia represents a sweet spot for fintech companies to deliver advanced user-friendly consumer financial solutions. In this episode of Data Point of View, Laurie Hood, Chief Marketing Officer…

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has tacked on OctaFX, an online currency trading brokerage, to its Financial Consumer Alert list as of yesterday. The central bank warned consumers that OctaFX is not authorised nor approved under the relevant laws and regulations administered by BNM. The Securities Commission Malaysia had also announced that it had added OctaFX to its investor alert list in June this year. The online brokerage even has a localised website in the Malay language tailored to the Malaysian users despite being based in Kingstown, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. OctaFX also has a YouTube channel with about 829,000…

Taiwan’s CTBC Bank has partnered with Malaysian fintech firm Soft Space to allow its customers to pay their taxi fares through tap-on-phone payments. CTBC Bank’s “Tap to Phone” service leverages Android smartphones with near-field communication (NFC) technology to accept contactless card payments powered by Soft Space. Tap to Phone has been approved by payment brands and PCI CPoC standards to ensure that all payment transactions are encrypted with multiple security layers to prevent credit card information and sensitive data on the mobile phones or tablets from being accessed by third parties. The cooperation with taxi operators Taiwan Taxi and its…

In Malaysia, business financing through peer-to-peer (P2P) lending and equity crowdfunding (ECF) is on the rise, with a growing number of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) turning to digital platforms to secure capital, and more investors embracing the trend to earn higher yields. New data released by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) show that between 2020 and 2021, MSME P2P lending and ECF activity in Malaysia picked up significantly. ECF and P2P markets continued to grow, recording 74% and 122% increase in total fundraising for both markets, respectively, as well as 33.3% and 48.6% increase in the overall number…

The Malaysian Takaful Association (MTA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Fintech Association of Malaysia (FAOM) to spur the adoption of fintech among takaful players in Malaysia. MTA said that this strategic initiative supports the 3 third strategic thrust of Bank Negara Malaysia’s Financial Sector Blueprint – to advance the digitalisation of the financial sector. The 24-months cooperation has identified various areas of mutual cooperation to accelerate and encourage fintech in the takaful space. FAOM will set out to connect subject matter experts with takaful industry players who can offer technical advice, share the latest trends in fintech…

Payment solutions provider GHL Systems (GHL) has partnered with Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) firm Ablr to offer enhanced payment solutions to its merchants and consumers. Through this partnership, GHL’s merchant network is able to provide both businesses and consumers additional flexible payment options, without charging them any additional interest. By leveraging on Ablr’s white label proprietary platform, GHL will provide flexible payment terms in the market to deliver more financing options for its customers. Ablr had gone live in Malaysia last month with a network of over 30 brands in Malaysia and Singapore spanning over 250 merchant points. “This…

Tune Protect Malaysia, the general insurance arm of Tune Protect Group, has launched its first Critical Illness Insurance offering Critical Safe+. Critical Safe+ is an online health insurance which covers advanced stages of critical illnesses with affordable cost, flexible options and wide range of benefits to create awareness and appeal to the younger generation. The new offering provides customers with the option to stack and customise their health coverage based on their lifestyle needs and budget. Tune Protect said that it has a 3:3:3 commitment where customers can buy in 3 minutes, receive a response in 3 hours, and get…

Kenanga Investment Bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ant Group to leverage mPaaS, a mobile development platform from the latter’s digital technology unit, to launch a Malaysian wealth superapp. According to Kenanga, the superapp is geared to revolutionise how Malaysians approach wealth generation and management by integrating a suite of financial solutions, such as stock trading, digital investment management, e-wallet, crypto trading and foreign currency exchange, onto a single platform and ecosystem. The development of this superapp extends the portfolio of digital products that Kenanga has successfully rolled out, from Rakuten Trade, Malaysia’s fastest-growing online stock trading…

Cross-border payments firm Tranglo announced that it has opened a new payment corridor to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This is part of Tranglo’s Middle East expansion programme, which focuses on infrastructural investment and network building to add supplementary channels with huge growth potential. Tranglo can now offer quick and seamless fund transfers to the UAE thanks to a single integrated partnership with the country’s banking network. Payment security is ensured via validation of beneficiary’s details against the Emirates ID, passport or GCC national ID. Tranglo’s direct-to-bank payout service is available 24/7 for individual senders and beneficiaries. Payments to most…

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has placed cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Global on its investor alert list for operating a digital asset exchange (DAX) in the country without being registered. Huobi Global [https://t.co/la9Y3ntGuq] has been added to the SC’s Investor Alert List for operating a digital asset exchange (DAX) in Malaysia without being registered with the SC. pic.twitter.com/z3IGgnCa0t — SC Malaysia (@SecComMY) August 22, 2022 In November 2020, Huobi announced in a vaguely worded statement that it had secured a license from the “Malaysian authorities” to provide a “safe and regulated way to trade cryptocurrencies” in the country. The regulator stepped…

Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) jointly announced the addition of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) track to the Global Fast Track 2022, giving local and global firms valuable opportunities to partner with the central banking institution to boost the growth and adoption of fintech in Asia and beyond. The Global Fast Track is organised by InvestHK and co-organised by Finnovasia. It is a one-stop programme with a business matching portal, pitching competition, and mentoring sessions which connect global fintech companies with a diverse range of Asian Corporate, Investor and Service Champions to explore…