In a tweet by Silicon Valley-based Stripe’s CEO, Patrick Collison, he seemed to confirm that the company has commenced with beta testing in Malaysia. This tweet follows the company’s talked about expansion into Southeast Asia. Setting up Stripe Malaysia was seemingly just a matter of time once the company asked about setting up a Singapore-based hub. We’re kicking off our betas—and seeing our first customers go live—in 6 new countries today! Delighted to take our first steps in Estonia, Poland, Greece, Lithuania, Latvia, and Malaysia. 🇪🇪🇵🇱🇬🇷🇱🇹🇱🇻🇲🇾 You can sign up for these betas at https://t.co/RhO6idSghy. — Patrick Collison (@patrickc)…

It’s no secret that Malaysia is gung-ho about cashlessness. Bank Negara Malaysia itself expressed as much, within the policies and guidelines outlined in their Interoperable Credit Transfer Framework (ICTF), and which PayNet, the system underlying much of payments and banking in Malaysia, has embarked on recently with the Real-Time Retail Payments system. We certainly see the rationale. A cashless society is one that is more easily governed. Data of our spending habits are more easily accessible by regulators, and illegal activities, like terrorist funding can be more easily thwarted. All of the benefits of cashlessness to a regular consumer have been well-documented as…

CIMB just announced its formal expansion into the Philippines, and seemingly taking advantage of the blank slate there to launch an all-digital and mobile-first bank. The strategy to go fully digital seems to be favoured by banks that are entering foreign markets in lieu of heavy investments into branch networks — a space that new entrants are often unable to compete with local incumbents. The same strategy was also applied by the bank last month in Vietnam At the launch, Effendy Shahul Hamid, CEO of Group Ventures and Partnerships, CIMB Group said: “This completes CIMB’s operating footprint in ASEAN and…

They say it’s always darkest before the dawn. That is just an enigmatic way to say that industry confusion is to be expected in the interim of the Securities Commission’s (SC) reveal of cryptocurrency regulations—at least for those that fall under the purview of securities as per Order 2019. Finance Minister Lim Guang Eng’s statement that illegal ICOs and cryptocurreny exchanges could face hefty jail times and fines had a sobering effect on blockchain-related players in Malaysia, and gave these upcoming regulations a sense of tangible impact. With Order 2019 active since the 15th of January 2019, a moratorium on promotion and…

Ten years away from the global financial crisis and in the aftermath of the 1MDB scandal, consumer confidence in Malaysia’s financial sector is strong, with 83% of Malaysians saying the sector has a good reputation. In the inaugural Financial Services Reputation Index for Malaysia,by MHP Communications, it is also revealed that 83% of consumers believe financial services companies have become more trustworthy in the past decade. High levels of positivity were also seen across Asia, with 90% of respondents in Singapore and India rating the industry’s reputation as good, as well as 82% and 84% in China and Hong Kong respectively.…

Due to confusion that has come out regarding cryptocurrency within the past few weeks, the Securities Commission Malaysia has invited Fintech News Malaysia over to clarify on certain positions it holds regarding digital assets. One of the biggest revelations is that the Securities Commission refutes the blanket consideration of crypto-assets as securities. “One of the questions we get asked the most [following last week’s announcement] is: is everything securities?” stated Chin Wei Min, Executive Director at the Securities Commission Malaysia yesterday. “But actually if you read the prescription order, this is not so. It only becomes securities if it…

The issue of digital currency and assets regulation came into mainstream focus when Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng announced that Order 2019 will activate starting from the 15th January 2019. Soon after, the Securities Commission (SC) issued their own statement about the matter to furnish the public with further details. And now the SC has released another statement to address another set of queries regarding the implementation of the Capital Markets and Services (Prescription of Securities) (Digital Currency and Digital Token) Order 2019. According to the regulator, they have invited and engaged with existing digital asset platform operators, and arrangements have been put…

Zurich Malaysia just partnered up with Malaysian startup Bereev, an online legacy platform aiming to help Malaysians plan for their inevitable death. The team up makes a lot of sense since insurance and afterlife planning definitely go hand-in-hand. Bereev’s web-based application allows users to plan and store crucial information on various aspects of estate planning—from wills to insurance policies, possessions, outstanding loans and personalised wishes that can be executed after one’s demise in a channel that is designed with security in mind, and all-inclusivity. Bereev works on a freemium model where more functionalities can be unlocked when users sign up for a…

At the pitchIN ECF Report 2018, CEO Sam Shafie revealed that the company has retained their position as the leading equity crowdfunding operator in 2018, in terms of successful campaigns raised. The number of successful deals done by the entire ECF industry dipped from 22 campaigns in 2017 to 14 campaigns in 2018, which pitchIN attributes to the public attention turning to the high-stakes election that captured Malaysia’s attention since the beginning of the year. In fact, Sam Shafie, CEO of pitchIN, told Fintech News that the platform purposefully avoided listing companies before May as they waited for the tension of…

PayNet Malaysia handles much of the underlying network for payments and banking in Malaysia. Owned by both Bank Negara Malaysia and a consortium of banks. The once controversial DuitNow launched by many Malaysian banks is one facet of the relationship between PayNet and payments in Malaysia; the option was made available to Malaysia once PayNet enabled that functionality in their own systems. In fact, DuitNow is just one factor of what PayNet in a larger framework known as the ICTF. In line with what’s outlined in the framework here are some features you can expect from your e-wallets very soon 1.…

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng announced that Order 2019 would be effective starting from Tuesday (15th January 2019). This means that anyone caught operating unauthorised initial coin offerings (ICOs) or digital asset exchanges face a 10-year jail sentence and an RM10 million fine. Cryptocurrencies, tokens and other digital assets will be categorised as securities henceforth, and fall under the regulation of the Securities Commission — an ongoing effort between Bank Negara Malaysia and the Securities Commission that has apparently been finalised. As such, Lim Guan Eng said that “such instruments and their associated activities must be first approved by the…

Following the announcement of Dato’ Lee Kim Yew’s Horse Currency meant to serve as something of a rewards programme for Country Height’s various properties, the tycoon returns to fintech headlines with a related venture—a crypto-wallet. Named the Unicorn Wallet, Lee Kim Yew claims the wallet will be the first of its kind in the country, though little information has been released on why he opines as so. The tycoon has spent about US$10 million on the Unicorn Wallet’s development, which will undergo a six-month testing period before the company will release the wallet to the public. The Unicorn Wallet is reportedly developed with…

Telenor Microfinance Bank, in partnership with Valyou Malaysia, has introduced a blockchain-based cross-border remittance service, developed by Alipay, the online payment platform operated by Ant Financial. The blockchain remittance service is provided by Telenor’s Easypaisa and Valyou, a financial technology company that provides remittances to underbanked communities. Both Valyou and Telenor Microfinance Bank which operates EasyPaisa are subsidiaries of the Telenor Group, which also operates Digi, one of the major telco players in Malaysia. Parties involved with the project claims that blockchain technology will significantly boost the speed and efficiency of remittances from Malaysia to Pakistan. Eric Jing Chairman and…

Digi, with Mastercard serving as the technology partner will offer a digital prepaid card—to be released for public use sometime in the first half of the year. The card is also developed with ManagePay  (MPay).  According to a press release, the digital card was designed for online shopping where customers can sign-up, activate and use the card all within a single mobile app. The goal is to provide an intuitive, end-to-end digital experience that is more secure. The announcement is a tad lax on details; but is likely that they will model the digital app after Mastercard’s upcoming Happy prepaid card. Online shoppers or…

Following their recent announcement of launching PayMe a blockchain based payroll solution, MyEG revealed that they will be unveiling a new e-wallet by September 2019 dubbed as iPayEasy. The company received their e-money license from Bank Negara Malaysia early 2018 with the maximum wallet limit of RM 1,500.Currently in its early access phase, iPayEasy is available for download in Google Play Store and doesnt seem to be available to Apple users just yet. The board of directors of MyEG expressed confidence that the e-wallet will contribute positively to the performance of the Group from financial year ending 30 September 2019…

Malaysia was named a leader in Islamic finance, producing 26% of the world’s Shariah-compliant financial assets by the end of 2017—amounting to US$528.7 billion (RM2.05 trillion). The study proclaimed Asia as the largest market for both sukuk and Islamic funds. But when it comes to the tech side of Islamic fintech, the picture is not quite so clear-cut. There are certainly efforts poured into growing this sub-segment of fintech here. There is an Islamic crowdfunding online platform called Ethis Crowd that has raised money for 5,000 houses as of 2017. In June, a Malaysian committee called the Majlis Perundingan Melayu (MPM) signed an MoU with…

The success of digital payments at local 7-Eleven stores via MOLPay has proven that such transactions may soon be a lot more commonplace. There are currently over 2,000 7-Eleven stores across Malaysia, making it a more convenient payment solution for all segments of users. MOLPay is not limited to students only but also open to all bank account holders, credit and debit card users, as well as those who only make payments with cash. “UKM realized their students required convenience and flexibility when making payments for their tuition fees and miscellaneous expenses,” said Eng Sheng Guan, Chief Executive Officer of MOLPay. “MOLPay’s partnership…

An additional 17 banks and non-banks will soon launch the DuitNow service as well. Customers wishing to receive DuitNow fund transfers using their mobile number need only perform a simple one-time registration to link their mobile number with their account number at their bank. Customers may also link their MyKad or MyPR Identity Card numbers, Army or Police numbers, Passport numbers or Business Registration numbers to their bank accounts in order to receive money. “It is extremely heartening that millions of Malaysians have already registered for DuitNow to receive funds using their mobile number and MyKad numbers” said Mr Peter…

The Open Vault, the FinTech and Innovation unit of OCBC Bank has been officially unveiled in Malaysia. Back in its home ground, its Singaporean counterpart has been known to launch several initiatives such as their mortgage loan chatbot EMMA, a dedicated unit for Artificial Intelligence and robo-investment services. It is unclear whether The Open Vault in Malaysia will pursue similar strategies or the team will focus on issues that are more specific to market conditions in Malaysia. What seems to be clear is however, the launch of OCBC Malaysia’s fintech innovation arm will see the bank forging more partnerships with fintech…

To implement the regulatory framework on digital assets—be it tokens or cryptocurrency—the Bank Negara (BNM) and the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) will enter into coordination arrangements to ensure compliance with laws and regulations under the purview of both regulators. The SC is currently working on regulations to bring digital assets within the remit of securities law, in a bid to promote fair and orderly trading and ensure investor protection. This effectively means that the SC will regulate issuances of digital assets via initial coin offerings (ICO) and the trading of digital assets at digital asset exchanges in Malaysia. In addition, ICO issuers and digital asset exchanges are…