China
Payments

China Construction Bank Malaysia Inks MoU With PayNet for Cross Border QR Payments

									by Fintech News Malaysia
December 15, 2021
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China Construction Bank (Malaysia) (CCBM) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet) for collaboration on real-time cross-border QR payments between Malaysia and China.
This will give more options for consumers and merchants in the cross-border payment space and serve as a key enabler to strengthen connectivity and financial integration.
Under this linkage, consumers and merchants in both countries will be able to make and receive instant payments as it allows Malaysians travelling to China to make payments to local merchants by scanning China Construction Bank Corporation’s merchants QR.

Meanwhile, Chinese tourists travelling to Malaysia are able to make purchases by scanning DuitNow QR via the China Construction Bank Corporation’s mobile app.
CCBM said that this collaboration, once materialised, represents a key milestone in the Malaysia – China payment connectivity initiative.
The bank said in a statement,
“Cross border QR payment will act as a catalyst and enabler for innovation in digital payments while dramatically improving the efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and timeliness of cross-border QR payments between two countries where consumers and businesses in both countries are expected to benefit from this initiative.

Under this collaboration, CCBM as the proposed settlement and QR correspondence bank would expect this to be a key milestone towards enabling more QR payment link between two countries with the vision of enabling Cross Border QR Payment to link with all QR payments in China one day.”

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Crowdfunding

pitchIN Surpasses RM200 Million in Funds Raised, Eyes Islamic Market Next Year

									by Fintech News Malaysia
December 16, 2021
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pitchIN, a Malaysian equity crowdfunding platform (ECF), announced that it recorded RM200 million funds raised in November 2021 just a year after it hit the RM100 million mark.
The company said that it has assisted 124 companies to raise capital, with 6200 investments made by a growing network of all classes of investors such as VCs, family offices, sophisticated investors, angel investors and retail investors from Malaysia and around the world.
pitchIN is looking to launch its secondary market in Q1 2022 which will attract more companies and investors to its platform.

Additionally, pitchIN is set to offer Shariah-compliant ECF deals next year.
pitchIN also plans to start exploring expansion opportunities outside of Malaysia in the South East Asian region.
Sam Shafie
Sam Shafie, CEO of pitchIN said,
“We are delighted with the continued validation of equity crowdfunding. In 2016, pitchIN set out to add value to the funding landscape through the democratisation of fundraising. Today, pitchIN has become among the largest funding systems for SMEs and startups in Malaysia.”
Kashminder Singh
Kashminder Singh the CSO of pitchIN said,
“Over the last 5 years, many companies that raised funds on pitchIN have grown significantly. Companies like Signature Market and Ray Go Solar have announced plans to go for IPO. pitchIN has facilitated private secondary trades of some companies at up to 6x investment returns.

The recent revisions to the ECF guidelines which now allows ECF deals up to RM20 million as well as opening up ECF to unlisted public (Berhad) companies expands the market opportunities.”

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Insurtech

Singaporean Insurtech Igloo Partners Pine Labs to Expand Its Footprint in Malaysia

									by Fintech News Malaysia
December 17, 2021
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Singaporean insurtech firm Igloo announced a new partnership with digital payments service provider Pine Labs, marking the extension of its regional footprint in Malaysia.
Through the partnership, Pine Labs will offer shoppers hassle-free and easy mobile phone protection solutions under the IglooCare Programme.
The Mobile Phone 360 and Phone Screen Protection are currently available on Pine Labs’ platform.

The protection covers both repair and replacement of the gadget by up to 100% of the gadget retail price, offered through Igloo’s dedicated nationwide IglooCare repair and service network in Malaysia.
Pine Labs is currently used by over 246,000 merchants in 3700 cities and towns across India and Malaysia.
The partnership comes on the heels of its appointment of Amitabh Singh as Country Manager for Malaysia.
He will be responsible for Igloo’s overall country operations across business development, partnerships, marketing and operations.
With nearly two decades of experience in financial services, he has held several leadership roles across Southeast Asia.
In addition to that, Igloo is expanding its team in Malaysia and making key hires across business development, operations, customer service and sales management.
Amitabh Singh
Amitabh Singh as Country Manager, Malaysia at Igloo said,
“We are happy to partner with Pine Labs to offer our best-in-class IglooCare phone protection solutions.

These lifestyle-focused solutions allow consumers to experience minimal disruption and financial loss to their daily lives – across multiple categories including Electronics & Durables, Health Benefits products, Lifestyle coverage and SME solutions – all of which are enabled through our technology platform,”
Chayan Hazra
“We are very happy to be partnering with technology platform like Igloo to enable us to expand protection offerings to our merchants.

At Pine Labs, we are always striving to get the best products and services for our merchant partners and we find Igloo provides us the best platform in terms of options and roll out flexibility,”
said Chayan Hazra, Head of Payment Business – APAC for Pine Labs.

Featured image: Edited from Unsplash

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Funding
WealthTech

CapBay’s P2P Islamic Financing Platform Bags RM30 Million From Kenanga

									by Fintech News Malaysia
December 20, 2021
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CapBay, a Malaysian multi-bank supply chain finance and peer-to-peer financing (P2P) platform, has secured RM30 million investment from Kenanga Capital Islamic (KCI), a subsidiary of Kenanga Investment Bank Berhad (KIBB).
The investment is a step forward to growing CapBay’s supply chain finance arm, CapBay Islamic, which is approved for Shariah-compliant P2P financing by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC).
This will now enable small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) to obtain flexible and cost-effective financing seamlessly through a digital platform.

With this latest initiative, CapBay’s P2P investors can now expand and diversify their investment portfolio by investing into Islamic financing notes.
These notes are predominantly backed by government and Government-Linked Companies (GLC) receivables.
According to CapBay, it differentiates itself by offering lower risk investment notes in a bid to enhance investor trust and confidence especially during these times of uncertainty.
They recently launched a guaranteed investment programme which is Malaysia’s first guaranteed P2P investment backed by a reserve fund.
CapBay’s P2P platform has reportedly maintained 0% default since its launch in March 2020.
Last year, CapBay had formed a partnership with KIBB through the acquisition of a 49% stake in its subsidiary, KCI to form an Islamic supply chain finance fintech.
Dato’ Sri Mohd Mokhtar Bin Haji Mohd Shariff
“CapBay is thrilled to receive the support from Kenanga and for sharing the same spirit of helping SMEs thrive especially during this time.

The injection of funds will help to accelerate the growth of Malaysian SMEs and with the launch of our Islamic receivables and working capital financing solutions, we believe that this will add another dimension to our efforts in supporting the SMEs in the country”,
said Dato’ Sri Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff, Chairman of CapBay.
Datuk Chay Wai Leong
“CapBay has been a great partner and with this investment, we hope that we can bring a positive impact to the SME community in Malaysia.

We have been collaborating with CapBay to develop an Islamic fintech to serve a wide range of SMEs through a digital platform that enables a faster and more convenient process,”
said Datuk Chay Wai Leong, Group Managing Director of KIBB.

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Payments
Sponsored

Tutuka, Paymentology Merge to Form New Payments and Card Processing Powerhouse

									by Fintech News Malaysia
December 20, 2021
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Issuer processors Paymentology and Tutuka announced that both entities are merging to create a new payments and card processing powerhouse.
Operating under the Paymentology name, the merger creates a new force in payment solutions which gives banks and fintechs the technology, team and experience to issue and process Mastercard, Visa and UnionPay cards across 49 countries.
The move brings together the ultra-advanced, multi-cloud platform of Paymentology with the global reach and experience of Tutuka.
The merger creates a powerhouse of over 270 payments and technology experts, working across both developed and emerging markets, serving customers in 49 countries, across 14 time zones – and a platform that is already processing US$ 10 billion in transactions each year.
Previously, banks and fintechs had to work with a multitude of card processors to reach a global market. Now, through Paymentology, they can integrate into a single API, go live and issue cards almost anywhere in the world.
They can then rapidly scale beyond that, as Paymentology can process client cards on the company’s shared platform, and upgrade clients to a dedicated platform just for that client, or in particular countries – a feature not available through any other processor.
Rowan Brewer
Rowan Brewer, CEO at Paymentology said,
“Banks and fintechs are racing to provide customers with digital and data-driven features. They are highly receptive to working with a single issuer-processor that can provide that, across the globe. People want to be able to pay with a virtual card – sometimes online, sometimes tapping their phone – but everything digitally. Banks, digital banks and fintechs need support and expertise to help them issue cards and process payments.”

Featured image: Edited from Unsplash

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Regtech/Regulation
Sponsored

Here Are the Key Findings From OneSpan’s Global Financial Regulations Report

									by Michael Magrath, Director, Global Standards & Regulations, OneSpan
December 22, 2021
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OneSpan recently released its second annual Global Financial Regulations Report, that outlines major developments in the regulatory landscape.
In conjunction with comprehensive research into how the changing regulatory landscape is impacting the banking community, this year’s report also reveals how financial institutions are responding to new challenges presented by increasingly innovative hacking attacks, protecting sensitive data and evermore stringent regulations.
48% of financial institutions report that regulatory compliance has slowed digital transformation.
Source: OneSpan’s Global Financial Regulations Report 2022
Despite the major security and regulatory challenges institutions were faced with in 2021, 84% of banking leaders are taking steps to prepare for cutting-edge initiatives like Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) over the coming year.
In addition, half of banks are planning to implement mobile app shielding technologies to secure mobile apps in anticipation of upcoming CBDC initiatives.
Other key findings from the report:

Top compliance challenges for banks include: reducing or preventing cyber-attacks (53%); safeguarding sensitive data (47%), keeping pace with changes in consumer privacy laws and industry regulations (41%).
Almost half of banks are putting digital remote identity verification and biometrics in place to comply with industry regulations.
Bank leaders are generally optimistic about crypto regulations. 67% of financial services leaders agree that crypto regulations make banks’ participation in the market more attractive.

Source: OneSpan’s Global Financial Regulations Report 2022
Asia Pacific’s fintech landscape
Diverse and vibrant Asia Pacific is emerging as the world’s most exciting region for fintech.
Regulators, financial institutions and fintechs are intent on cultivating digital talent and developing innovative solutions like artificial intelligence.
Regional demand for fintech apps is surging. Although Asia Pacific fintech investment shrank in 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, it rose to US$ 7.5 billion in the first half of 2021.
Steep competition between jurisdictions—especially in the shadow of a digital powerhouse like China—will ensure that growth in fintech continues to accelerate.
Wealthy and established economies like Australia, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan are pursuing ambitious digital plans.
Taiwan, Asia’s top economic performer of 2020 and one of the world’s most competitive economies, will be a key market to watch.
Its regulators have sought to lower entry barriers for fintechs, strengthen cybersecurity and data protection frameworks, and promote the development of disruptive technologies.
Hong Kong is similarly aiming to cement its status as a global financial center.
In June 2021, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced its Fintech 2025 strategy, which aims to modernise data infrastructure, promote the uptake of fintech by the financial sector, set the stage for the advent of CBDCs and provide more financial and regulatory support for the development of fintech.
Meanwhile, emerging markets like India and Southeast Asia are experiencing incredible digitalisation, though structural challenges and the continued effects of the pandemic could stall progress in economic transformation.
India’s fast-growing fintech market is currently valued at US$ 31 billion, and is forecast to expand by a staggering US$ 84 billion by 2025.
Its young and tech-savvy population is leading a surge in digital payments, and India’s United Payments Interface (UPI) recorded 3.55 billion transactions in August—an all-time high.
Australia, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Taiwan and Thailand are all exploring CBDCs, which will both promote financial inclusion and interregional and international trade.
In addition to the research, the second annual Global Financial Regulations Report outlines major developments in the regulatory landscape in 54 jurisdictions worldwide.
The report delves into country-by-country analysis of CBDCs, open banking, artificial intelligence, digital identity frameworks, e-signatures and remote online notarisation, and data privacy.
OneSpan’s Global Financial Regulations Report can be accessed here.

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Lending

SME Corp Partners MicroLEAP to Disburse RM 10 Million in Shariah-Compliant Financing

									by Fintech News Malaysia
January 6, 2022
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Shariah-compliant P2P  financing platform microLEAP has just been appointed by SME Corporation Malaysia (SME Corp) as the financial intermediary under its Digital Financing Initiative (DFI) pilot project.
The collaboration will see SME Corp disburse RM 10 million worth of Shariah-compliant financing to Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through MicroLEAP’s readily available, fully online platform that provides an array of Shariah-compliant financing services.
With this, issuers (borrowers) are able to raise low-cost financing from RM 50,000 to RM 500,000 with the option of monthly repayments between 1 to 36 months. Added to that, these funds will be disbursed to the business within four working days (excluding public holidays), upon approval and completion of the Islamic Commodity Murabahah Trade.

To qualify for this program, applicants must first be a member of SME Corp.
Tunku Danny Mudzaffar
“We are proud to be joining hands with SME Corp to reach out to businesses and assist them in raising the financing they require. With SME Corp being an agency under the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (MEDAC), we are thrilled to be given this opportunity to assist the government to facilitate this shariah-compliant financing to more businesses in need. We look forward to this partnership and hope that we are able to continue making a positive impact,”
added Tunku Danny Nasaifuddin Mudzaffar, Founder and CEO of microLEAP.
Rizal Nainy
“We at SME Corp believe that it is the duty of all parties, be it public or private, to assist vulnerable businesses through these uncertain times. MSMEs in particular have been severely affected by the disruptions to cash flow. As the bedrock of our economy, it is important to ensure that these businesses are able to raise funds in a timely manner alongside reliable, online and shariah-compliant platforms such as microLEAP,”
said Rizal Nainy, CEO of SME Corp.
This story follows a similar partnership struck between MicroLEAP, Bank Pembangunan Malaysia and MDEC.

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Insurtech

BNM Paves the Way for Digital Insurance with Proposed Licensing Framework

									by Fintech News Malaysia
January 5, 2022
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Bank Negara Malaysia on Tuesday issued the Discussion Paper on Licensing Framework for Digital Insurers and Takaful Operators.
The Discussion Paper outlines the proposed framework for licensing new digital insurers and takaful operators (DITOs) to encourage digital innovation in the insurance and takaful sector.
DITOs are expected to contribute to a more inclusive, competitive, efficient insurance and takaful sector in line with evolving needs of consumers.

Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus
“The proposed framework aims to attract new digital players that can offer innovative solutions to address critical protection gaps among the unserved and underserved market segments, as well as enhance customer experience and elevate trust,”
said Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Tan Sri Datuk Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus.
The central bank has also similarly issued a digital banking licensing framework on December 2020 with similar objectives.
The central bank said that framework will adopt a balanced approach.
The focus is to encourage more significant innovation, whilst promoting financial stability and protecting consumer interests. The Discussion Paper covers the requirements for entry, such as criteria in assessing an application and capital requirement, and explores new business models such as risk-sharing.
In this discussion paper, BNM proposes a foundational phase not unlike it digital banking framework which allows for DITOs to have a lower minimum paid-up capital of RM 40 million.
The discussion paper also states that incumbent insurers who wish to apply for a digital license may do so through a separate body like a subsidiary or via a consortium. However it highlights that existing players do no need additional licensing to digitise their business.
The Bank aims to issue an Exposure Draft upon obtaining feedback from the Discussion Paper.
This will be followed by a Policy Document on prudential and business conduct requirements for DITOs in 2022. The applications for a DITO licence will be open at a later date. The Bank invites written feedback on the Discussion Paper by 28 February 2022.
The full discussion paper can be found here.

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Payments

Tranglo Adds Hong Kong to Its Cross-Border Payments Network

									by Fintech News Malaysia
January 11, 2022
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Cross-border payments firm Tranglo has added Hong Kong as a receiving corridor on its cross-border payments network to allow near real-time payouts.
Tranglo will leverage the country’s Faster Payment System, launched by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in 2018 to facilitate quicker money transfers, and Global E-money Alliance (GEA) to create a seamless cross-border payment highway.
The firm said that this addition is expected to benefit all existing partners and businesses looking for an integrated payout solution to Hong Kong.

Tranglo’s direct-to-bank payout service is available 24/7 and supports both individual and business senders.
Individual beneficiaries will receive the funds in Hong Kong within minutes, subject to terms and conditions.
Tranglo helps financial institutions and businesses pay globally through Tranglo Connect, its proprietary cross-border payments solution. It integrates payout and partner services seamlessly, unifying the end-to-end payment process with direct API access.
With Tranglo Connect, companies can immediately make payments to over 23 countries reliably and securely.
Jacky Lee
Jacky Lee, CEO of Tranglo Group said,
“Hong Kong has always been a popular sending corridor for us. In 2020, it came 2nd in our list of top sending corridors.

This year, the huge demand for payments into Hong Kong has prompted us to make it a receiving corridor too. Businesses and partners can now make quick and reliable payments to Hong Kong.”

Featured image: Edited from Pixabay

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Funding
Payments

Japan’s JCB Invests US$5 Million in Soft Space

									by Fintech News Malaysia
January 13, 2022
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Malaysian fintech startup Soft Space announced that it has formed a new strategic partnership with Japanese credit card company JCB following a US$5 million investment from the payment giant.
Both entities will also engage in a series of business collaborations that are aimed at capitalising on Soft Space’s fintech-as-a-service business model, technology and regulatory knowhow, and JCB’s global recognition, vast alliances and brand reach.
This is part of the first tranche of funding in the horizon for Soft Space with other investments to follow in the future.

The strategic partnership with Soft Space also aims to harness synergies between the two parties and includes the expansion of JCB’s merchant network, the establishment of card issuing solutions, and the provision of customer marketing solutions.
Other collaborative areas include, but not limited to, enhanced merchant acceptance, mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) and transit; payment gateways; cards-as-a-service (CaaS); white label services, API platform services and technical support services.
“I am honoured to announce this investment and collaboration agreement. I believe this is not just an investment, but the first step towards realising the boundless possibility with Soft Space.

We are capitalising on this opportunity to expand and secure our business in SEA by utilising Soft Space’s cutting-edge technology and robust network with the financial institutions. We are confident that this collaboration will go beyond Malaysia and expand across the globe.”
said Yoshiki Kaneko, President & COO of JCB International.
Joel Tay
“Being JCB’s first investee in Malaysia assures us that we are on track to develop financial solutions that will fortify payment acceptance between Japan and SEA, and benefit both regions when borders open up again.

This bridge between our regions will also serve as a roadmap for us to enter other regions globally in the future.”
said Joel Tay, Chief Executive Officer of Soft Space.

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Digital Transformation
Sponsored

The Bank Branch of the Future: Consumers Prefer Hybrid Experiences

									by Rahim Kaba, VP Product Marketing, OneSpan
January 17, 2022
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Digital banking has been displacing many branch interactions in the move towards digital.
As consumers increasingly engage with their banks remotely and circumstances such as the pandemic as well as new digitally-focused strategies continue to play out, there are ongoing questions and serious challenges for banks in defining new models and transitioning to digital offerings.
Many customers will use self-service digital channels most of the time while others turn first towards channels where they can get human help.
The latter is still essential for certain transactions, interactions, or even as part of some activities.
Most banks are transforming to a hybrid model, but the greatest challenge remains as to how to replicate the human interaction when it comes to, for example, the explanation and understanding of contractual documents and serious financial decisions and products.
With the new hybrid banking model, the key is to find the right balance between human-mediated and digital experiences.
The evolving role of the branch network
Generally speaking, consumers do not want to visit branches to perform day-to-day transactions because they can do these activities through online banking or mobile banking.
However, they do want to go to the branch for more complex activities.
Ultimately, consumers are looking for hybrid experiences that combine digital empowerment and self service with human expertise and assistance.
It’s all about the right balance between digital and in-branch service for banking products.
For some activities, like applying for a loan or selecting retail banking services, consumers will switch between digital and in-person as they conduct research and gather information.
Hence, it’s important to ensure that these digital end-to-end tools are available both online and in-person.
When the human touch is a must
Image via Unsplash
While customers may agree that their banks do well on the digital and self-service side, these are not key contributors to customers’ opinion of good customer experience or brand loyalty.
Especially in-person interactions help drive customer trust and reassurance that transactions are completed correctly.
When we look at the activities done in traditional channels, they are more complex in nature.
Activities like applying for a mortgage or loan, or discussing investment or retirement strategies, are activities that greatly benefit from branch staff interaction and assistance.
That’s why it’s important to inject the human element into the digital experience where it makes the most sense.
With new technologies, it’s now possible to recreate the face-to-face experience in a virtual environment.
Using video conferencing and rich collaboration capabilities like co-browsing, an in-person experience can be closely mimicked.
Additionally, simultaneously being able to review and electronically sign documents in real time can be beneficial in some of these scenarios.
These types of virtual blended or hybrid experiences help customers and bank employees adapt to the new reality where customers often prefer interacting remotely rather than in the branch.
Hybrid experiences are part of the bank branch of the future
The evolution of the traditional branch into a hybrid banking experience is a win-win for banks and customers.
It comes down to being able to meet the needs of the consumer at every point of the customer journey.
Digital technology has enabled customers to conduct self-service transactions at their convenience.
At the same time, opportunities for in-person interaction at branches is just as important an offering and is the stronger driver for building customer loyalty and developing trusted customer relationships.
Digital technology enables financial institutions to mimic traditional face-to-face interactions through video conferencing, onscreen collaboration, and e-signature.
Through these hybrid experiences, customers get the financial help they need in a fast and convenient way, no matter what type of transaction they want to complete.
At the same time, financial institutions are able to increase their flexibility and adaptability and offer a competitive customer experience.
The best solution will be different for each company, so adopting a hybrid model will allow for the greatest amount of flexibility for banks to be able to meet the needs of their customers, as well as their own goals.
Learn how SC Ventures and OneSpan have simplified document handling and signatures at Standard Chartered here.

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WealthTech

Rakuten Trade Enable Users to Trade US Stocks

									by Fintech News Malaysia
January 13, 2022
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Malaysian online equities broker Rakuten Trade announced the expansion of its Cash Upfront Trading Account to include access into foreign markets beginning with the US.
Rakuten Trade said that this decision was based on a high volume of requests that it has received since its launch in 2017 as a result of a partnership between Kenanga and Rakuten Group.
Designed for the digitally savvy individuals who are keen to execute self-directed trades, Rakuten Trade’s Cash Upfront account offers retail investors low brokerage fees (from RM7 to RM100) and competitive exchange rates for trading on both Bursa Malaysia and US markets.

The company also features an all-in-one Cash Upfront dashboard for clients to execute their own stock trades.
Investors will only have one trading limit for all markets as well as access to research reports from the inhouse research team, Rakuten Securities (Research), and Motley Fools.
Additionally, investors will also be able to activate their accounts in less than one hour for trading in Malaysia and within three days to enable US trading.
Malaysians and foreign nationals with a Malaysian bank account are eligible to apply for a Cash Upfront Account for trading in both local and foreign markets.
Upon successful activation of a Cash Upfront Account, the client needs to opt in to enable the Foreign Market service.
Kazumasa Mise
Kazumasa Mise, Rakuten Trade’s Chief Executive Officer said,
“Our US share trading service amplifies Rakuten Trade’s value propositions and unlocks more value through digital efficiencies.

With this enhancement, our clients will now have access to trade stocks like Apple and Tesla, as well as Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) that are listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, in addition to over 1,000 stocks on Bursa Malaysia.”

Featured image: Edited from Unsplash

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Funding
Lending

Earned Wage Access Platform Paywatch Bags US$5.25 Million in Seed Funding

									by Fintech News Malaysia
January 14, 2022
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Earned wage access (EWA) service provider Paywatch has raised US$ 5.25 million in a seed funding round led by US venture capital firm Third Prime and prominent family offices in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Operating in South Korea, Malaysia and Hong Kong, the company plans to use the fresh funds to further grow its presence in existing markets, as well as accelerate expansion efforts into new Southeast Asian markets, including Indonesia and the Philippines.
With this seed financing, Third Prime is now a new partner at Paywatch. SparkLabs, Won & Partners and CTK Investments also participated in this round.

Paywatch is an EWA service provider that has integrated with five established financial institutions across Asia to provide workers access to their earned wages, in real-time, before pay day.
The company is part of the regulatory sandbox of the Financial Services Commission in South Korea and currently works with over 50 companies in the country.
In Malaysia, Paywatch has been recognised by the UN Capital Development Fund, Bank Negara Malaysia and MDEC for its financial inclusion initiatives.
Richard Kim
“A predictable and healthy financial lifestyle plays a big role in ensuring workers’ happiness and mental health, but achieving it is only possible when workers can deal with unexpected financial burdens.

Paywatch aims to promote financial inclusion by helping workers achieve financial security and gain financial access to major banks. For companies, our flexible payroll system has made them more competitive in attracting talent and increased retention in the face of the ‘great resignation’,”
said Richard Kim, Founder and CEO at Paywatch.
Alex Kim
“The team at Third Prime has an exemplary record of actively helping emerging fintech companies to scale and drive value for end-users.

We are excited to leverage their experience and expertise at this time of rapid growth for Paywatch.”
said Alex Kim, Co-founder and President.

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WealthTech

Versa Surpasses Over RM 100 Million in Transactions in Less Than a Year

									by Fintech News Malaysia
January 17, 2022
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Versa Asia, a Malaysian digital cash management platform, announced that it has achieved over RM 100 million in transactions.
The firm has also witnessed the creation of over 30,000 accounts on its platform in less than a year after the official launch.
In recent years, digital cash management platforms have become a more popular investment method as these platforms invest in secure mutual funds with high liquidity.

Launched in partnership with Affin Hwang Asset Management, Versa is a money market fund investment, a type of mutual fund intended to offer high liquidity with low level of risk.
With entry fees from RM1, Versa said that it offers interest rates of up to 2.46 % p.a. which is on-par with fixed deposits.
Versa is a recognised market operator with approval and license from Malaysia’s Securities Commission (SC).
Teoh Wei-Xiang
“With easy access through a mobile app, Versa has achieved a significant milestone with the help of Malaysians who are turning to digital cash management platforms like ours, as opposed to conventional Fixed Deposits due to the latter’s high minimum deposits, long lock-ins, and lower interest rates.

As a Versa user, all you need to do is deposit your cash into the application and let Affin Hwang Asset Management handle the rest while you just sit back and watch your savings grow,”
said Teoh Wei-Xiang, Chief Executive Officer, Versa.

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E-Wallets
Payments

HSBC Rolls Out Multi-Currency Global Wallet for Malaysian SMEs

									by Fintech News Malaysia
January 20, 2022
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HSBC Malaysia has launched a multi-currency digital wallet that enables small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) to make and receive international payments from one single global account.
The HSBC Global Wallet is fully integrated within the bank’s existing business banking platform, HSBCnet, and taps into the bank’s global payments network.
The bank said that the global wallet significantly reduces the time in which money can be delivered to a overseas beneficiary and removes the need for businesses to use third-party providers for international transactions.

SMEs can send and receive money in 10 currencies including the US Dollar, Japanese Yen, renminbi, Singapore Dollar and Euro. Paying and receiving like a local allows for these transactions to be done within the same or next day.
The HSBC Global Wallet is backed by the trust and security of the bank’s global network, with more than 1.3 million commercial banking business customers in 53 countries and territories.
Global Wallet has been launched in Singapore, the UK and the US, and the bank has a pipeline of further markets as well as new currencies and enhancements.
Andrew Sill
Andrew Sill MBE, Country Head of Commercial Banking, HSBC Malaysia said,
“As the trusted international bank of choice for SMEs, the launch of HSBC Global Wallet cements our commitment to scaling up our SME banking capabilities in Malaysia and supporting SMEs as they expand internationally.

Drawing on HSBC’s deep digital expertise and wide global network, we are helping SMEs to build resilience and trust within their global supply chains whilst making everyday banking easier. Given this, we anticipate that we will be able to grow our SME customer base by 25% in the first year with the launch of Global Wallet.”

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Lending

Funding Societies Malaysia Surpasses RM1 Billion in Financing Disbursement

									by Fintech News Malaysia
January 25, 2022
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SME digital financing platform Funding Societies Malaysia, announced that it has disbursed RM1 billion in financing to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across more than 17,000 financing deals.
This milestone comes as the platform enters its fifth year of operations in the country.
Funding Societies said that the platform was in a better position to react and to adjust its business model and risk underwriting by learning from the challenges and uncertainties it faced in the past two years.

This had resulted in the firm witnessing 100% growth of financing deals in 2021 compared to the previous year, while maintaining a default rate of around 3%.
Funding Societies remains bullish of its growth trajectory this year, aiming to disburse more than RM500 million in financing.
Regionally, the platform has reached RM8.5 billion total financing disbursement as of January.
Wong Kah Meng
Wong Kah Meng, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Funding Societies Malaysia said,
“The pandemic has paved a new era of digital inclusion. This simultaneously allows us to scale further in reaching out to more of these creditworthy MSMEs, in line with their increased awareness on digital financing platforms.

This RM1 billion disbursement milestone is a reflection of the thousands of underserved creditworthy SMEs we have supported over the years, not just in Malaysia, but also across Southeast Asia.”

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Digital Transformation
Sponsored

Why Risk-Averse Southeast Asian Banks Should Embrace a ‘Multicore’ Approach

									by Fintech News Malaysia
January 27, 2022
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The banking industry is in the midst of a period of intense transformation in Southeast Asia, and indeed the world, driven in part by the pandemic, but also influenced heavily by changing consumer demand and fast-moving technological innovation.
Predicting the future of banking, while never an easy task, is now more uncertain than ever, with new trends emerging regularly and regulatory changes occurring at pace.
To get a clearer understanding of how Southeast Asian banks view the future of core banking within their organisations, IDC Financial Insights interviewed a number of Southeast Asian banking executives, discussing their thoughts on legacy core banking, the risks associated with transformation, and how they plan to capitalise on the benefits that digital banking can deliver.
The white paper “Leveraging Digital Core Banking Systems: Next-Level Banking” found that Southeast Asian banks want to be able to use a combined legacy and digital core banking approach to succeed in the new era of banking which is known as the ‘multicore’ approach.
Key findings of the research

The challenge for established banks in Southeast Asia, many of which have core banking systems that are already 20 years old or more, is to deliver on the promise of digital banking without exhausting their financial resources or risking their reputation
Southeast Asian banks are often risk-averse and want to extend the value and life of legacy core banking
Despite this, Southeast Asian banks clearly understand the need for and value of digital banking

The ‘multicore’ approach

The multicore approach to digital transformation could be just the answer that Southeast Asian banks wary of ‘big bang’ style transformation are looking for.
However, it’s important to note that while a multicore approach can certainly extend the life and value of legacy core banking – sometimes considerably – even with this approach banks must have plans in place to eventually migrate to a fully digital core.
The multicore solution should be viewed as a way to stretch out the transformation phase, making smaller changes incrementally rather than doing everything at once.
This ‘softly, softly’ approach seems to appeal particularly to banks in Southeast Asia, where the appetite for risk is low, and rapid change can be seen as a threat.
The multicore approach is an ideal solution for Southeast Asian banks looking to reduce the risk associated with digital transformation, but who also understand that they need to join the digital banking revolution to be able to offer the hyper-personalised and customer-centric experiences that consumers now expect.
Benefits of a ‘multicore’ solution

Extend the life and value of legacy technology
Reduce risk – technical, reputational, and financial
Smoother pathway to digital transformation

Even with a multicore approach, legacy technology must eventually be replaced

Fortunately for these risk-averse Southeast Asian banks, there is a new breed of digital core banking providers – like Mambu – that are able to deliver a multiple core – aka ‘multicore’ – solution.
The multicore model values the role of legacy core banking well into the future, reducing the potential technical, financial, and reputational risks associated with a ‘rip and replace’ approach to transformation.
Its SaaS cloud banking platform enables easier connection of multiple core systems, which in turn reduces the risk of replacing legacy core and extends its value longer term.
Mambu has helped several Southeast Asian banks on their digital transformation journeys, enabling them to extend the life of their legacy core banking while also embracing the new technologies that their customers now expect.
Download this white paper “Leveraging Digital Core Banking Systems: Next-Level Banking”, sponsored by Mambu, to understand the choices and challenges of incumbent banks faced with legacy core banking systems, and how a new banking model can enable them to become a digitally-enabled bank.

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Payments

Malaysia and Indonesia Pilots Phase 1 of Cross-Border QR Payment Linkage

									by Fintech News Malaysia
January 27, 2022
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Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and Bank Indonesia (BI) has launched a cross-border QR payment linkage to enable instant, secure, and efficient cross-border payments between the two countries.
Through this linkage, consumers in both countries will be able to make retail payments by scanning the DuitNow or QRIS (Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard) QR codes displayed by offline and online merchants.
The pilot phase has kicked off today and a full commercial launch is expected in the third quarter of 2022.

This linkage will be expanded in the future to support cross-border remittance where users in both countries can make real-time fund transfers with convenience.
This project is made possible with the collaboration of various stakeholders from both countries including the Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet), the Indonesian Payment System Association (ASPI) and RAJA (Rintis, Artajasa, Jalin, and Alto) as payment system operators.
The settlement banks are CIMB Bank, Bank Mandiri and Bank Negara Indonesia.
Other participants include various banks and non-bank payment service providers from both countries.
The participants from Malaysia include Public Bank and Razer Merchant Services, while participants from Indonesia include Bank Central Asia, Bank Mega, Bank Pembangunan Daerah Bali (BPD Bali), Bank Permata, Bank Sinarmas, Bank Syariah Indonesia, CIMB Niaga, LinkAja, Ottocash, ShopeePay Indonesia.
BNM revealed that phase 2 of the QR payment linkage between Malaysia and Thailand has also gone live this week.
Malaysian users can now scan Thai QR codes to make payment to Thai merchants.
Jessica Chew Cheng Lian
Jessica Chew Cheng Lian, Deputy Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia said,
“The cross-border QR payment linkage between Malaysia and Indonesia marks a key milestone in the long history of collaboration between both countries.

Such developments will bring us closer towards realising the vision of creating an ASEAN network of fast and efficient retail payment systems.”
Doni P. Joewono
Bank Indonesia’s Deputy Governor, Doni P. Joewono said,
“This initiative links cross-border payments through the interconnection of national QR codes of the two countries and also represents another milestone of the Indonesian Payment System Blueprint 2025.

Bank Indonesia recognises the significance of cross-border payment system linkages and has continuously pursued such initiatives.”

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Payments

Fave Appoints Gary Yeoh as New Country Manager for Malaysia

									by Fintech News Malaysia
February 3, 2022
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Payments platform Fave announced that it has appointed Gary Yeoh as its Country Manager in Malaysia to oversee the day-to-day business operations.
Gary has a broad spectrum of experience across various industries. He was a pioneer of the Berjaya Loyalty program (Bcard), leading the business development for over 6 years and as a result, the programme grew to a base of 4.5 million card holders with over 100 merchants, which won numerous awards.
He moved from loyalty to payments in 2017 and was part of the founding team at Boost, Axiata Digital’s fintech arm, where the e-wallet grew to a base of over 9 million users and 350 thousand merchants during his 5 years tenure.

Joel Neoh
Joel Neoh, CEO of Fave Group commented about Gary’s recent appointment saying,
“We are pleased to have Gary join the Fave team during this exciting time as we are seeing rapid evolution in the payments space, in both consumer expectations and merchant needs for smart payments.

I am confident that with Gary’s leadership, Fave will grow and further strengthen our position in Malaysia’s digital payments and BNPL landscape.”
Gary Yeoh
Gary Yeoh, Country Manager of Fave Malaysia said,
“I am thrilled to be part of the Fave team that is committed to offer customers savings and flexible payments through the array of the services while helping merchants grow.

As we are onboarding more and more merchants, Fave will be able to create a better spending environment for all consumers.”

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Islamic Fintech
Lending

Boost Forays into Islamic Fintech with New MSME Financing Scheme

									by Fintech News Malaysia
February 3, 2022
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Axiata’s fintech arm Boost is offering micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) financing up to RM100,000  financed through its digital lending subsidiary Boost Credit that was formerly known as Aspirasi.
‘Capital Plus’ is a Shariah-compliant micro-financing facility based on commodity murabahah that is ideal for MSMEs.
It offers financing from RM1,000 up to RM100,000 over a 15-month tenure at a low profit rate of 1.2% per month, with no repayment of principal for the first three months.

Boost said that the application process will not take more than 10 minutes and the funds will be disbursed within 48 hours for the merchants on its platform.
MSMEs do not need any guarantor or collaterals to apply for this financing.
Sheyantha Abeykoon
Sheyantha Abeykoon, CEO of Boost expressed,
“The pandemic has posed many challenges for MSMEs to continue running their businesses. For most MSMEs, the challenge of maintaining steady cashflow weighs heavily on their minds.

One of the key aspects we have incorporated into ‘Capital Plus’ is a three-month moratorium for MSMEs. We hope that MSMEs will find this micro-financing facility helpful in giving a boost to their recovery journey and provide them the much-needed capital to re-start their businesses,”

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Payments

India’s Razorpay Acquires Majority Stake in Payments Firm Curlec

									by Fintech News Malaysia
February 8, 2022
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Indian payment gateway provider Razorpay announced its first international expansion into Southeast Asia with the acquisition of a majority stake in Curlec, a Malaysian payments firm.
Though the amount was not disclosed, Harshil Mathur, CEO and Co-Founder, Razorpay said that the valuation of Curlec was roughly around US$ 20 million.
Razorpay said that it is confident that this acquisition will further unveil new channels for global business expansion for online businesses based in India and Malaysia.

Curlec currently works with hundreds of businesses across Malaysia with notable names including insurance company AXA, Southeast Asian SME digital financing platform Funding Societies, and Axiata Digital to name a few.
Initially backed by 500 Global and other investors, Curlec reported that its annual revenue has grown by nearly 5X since 2018.
This marks Razorpay’s fourth acquisition overall and its first internationally.
Prior to this, Razorpay acquired TERA Finlabs, an AI-based risk tech SaaS Platform in 2021, Opfin, a payroll and HR management solution in 2019, as well as Thirdwatch, a fraud analytics platform in 2018.
Harshil Mathur
Commenting on Razorpay’s first international expansion, Harshil Mathur, CEO and Co-Founder, Razorpay said,
“With Curlec coming onboard, we at Razorpay are really excited as we mark our first step towards expanding in the South East Asia region.

With the vast experience in a heterogenous market like India over the last seven years, our expansion to the Southeast Asia payments market is timed exactly to coincide with the company’s growing dominance in all things payments.”
Zac Liew
Zac Liew, Co-founder and CEO of Curlec said,
“We are incredibly excited to be combining forces with Harshil, Shashank and the Razorpay team.

We look forward to the next phase of our journey and scaling together across Malaysia and Southeast Asia.”

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Funding
Payments

Malaysian Fintech IIMMPACT Lands US$2 Million Seed Funding From Sequoia India

									by Fintech News Malaysia
February 9, 2022
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Malaysian fintech company IIMMPACT announced that it has rasied US$2 million in seed funding from Sequoia India’s Surge, a rapid scale-up programme for startups in Southeast Asia and India.
IIMMPACT is Surge’s first startup founded and based in Malaysia and was a part of its sixth cohort of 20 companies.
The firm provides a turnkey solution for businesses who want to offer payment services to their customers.

Through its API solution, businesses can rapidly launch a digital marketplace to make payments to over 170 billers.
By tapping on IIMMPACT’s APIs, companies can add new products within days.
The solution also allows bill management for recurring payments and financial consolidation.
In 2020, IIMMPACT had pivoted its focus from being a loyalty app to a one-stop payments and data aggregation API.
According to IIMMPACT, it had processed over US$90 million in transactions in 2021.
Alex Tan
“Despite the leaps we’ve seen towards the digital economy over the past few years, many developing markets in Southeast Asia are being held back – whether it is due to the lack of infrastructure, regulation or ease of access.

The good news is that businesses in Southeast Asia are amazingly receptive to new technologies – which is why IIMMPACT was created,”
said Alex Tan, CEO and Co-founder of IIMMPACT.
Kelvin Lee
“Though our simple yet robust solution, companies have come to us, supercharged their digital journeys and found new opportunities for expansion.

We’re excited to accelerate our product development with the new funds, grow our team and venture into new products and services for our customers.”
said Kelvin Lee, CTO and Co-founder of IIMMPACT.

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Payments

Fave Taps Former Touch ‘n Go, Boost Exec as Regional Chief Product Officer

									by Fintech News Malaysia
February 11, 2022
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Payments platform Fave announced that it has appointed Arvindd Selvaratnam as its Regional Chief Product Officer.
Arvindd will be overseeing the company’s regional product roadmap and strategic planning, and will be leveraging various emerging opportunities for Fave in their next phase of growth.
As CPO, Arvindd will be leading product design and development efforts to further accelerate Fave’s direction in the BNPL sector.

Arvindd brings with him a range of experiences from digital telco, product development and digital payment verticals from previous stints in Malaysia and Cambodia.
Previously holding the position of product lead at TNG Digital, he simultaneously managed online and offline product domains, cross border payments, and in-app bill payments.
Arvindd was also part of the founding team at Axiata’s fintech arm Boost where he led the product team focused on growing its user base and providing the best user experience for customers.
This comes on the heels of the recent appointment of Gary Yeoh as the Country Manager for Malaysia to oversee the day-to-day business operations.
Fave said that it will be expanding its product and engineering teams and is hiring over 20 roles to work on various payment solutions.
Joel Neoh
Joel Neoh, CEO of Fave Group commented on the recent appointment,
“Arvindd’s product and fintech ecosystem expertise will be instrumental in building towards Fave’s mission in making shopping rewarding and special.

He will be responsible for providing consumers with simpler and more convenient ways to shop online and offline, increase affordability and innovate on fintech product offerings across the region.”
Arvindd Selvaratnam
Arvindd Selvaratnam, Regional Chief Product Officer at Fave said,
“I am excited to be part of the team that is committed to facilitating rewarding and affordable digital shopping experiences in addition to collaborating with the ecosystem to bring smooth payment solutions to customers and merchants at scale through our partners.

It is high time to join Fave at the growth stage with buy now pay later and online shopping becoming salient parts of consumer behaviour in SEA markets.”

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Islamic Fintech
WealthTech

Wahed Invest Charged by SEC for Misleading Clients and Shariah Compliance Failures

									by Fintech News Malaysia
February 11, 2022
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Wahed Invest was charged on Thursday by The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US for making misleading statements, breaching its fiduciary duty, and for compliance failures related to its Shariah advisory business.
According to the SEC’s order, from September 2018 through July 2019, Wahed Invest advertised the existence of its own proprietary funds when no such funds existed, and also promised investors that it would periodically rebalance their advisory accounts, but did not do so.
The SEC’s order further finds that when Wahed Invest ultimately launched a proprietary ETF in July 2019, it used its clients’ advisory assets to seed the ETF without prior disclosure to clients of any conflicts of interest.

The order also finds that Wahed Invest marketed itself as providing advisory services compliant with shariah laws, including marketing the importance of its income purification process on its website.
Despite these representations, the order finds that Wahed Invest did not adopt and implement written policies and procedures addressing how it would assure shariah compliance on an ongoing basis.
“Robo-advisors, like other advisors, must ensure that their marketing materials are not misleading and that conflicts are disclosed to investors,”
“Registered investment advisers like Wahed Invest must also adopt and implement written policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent the adviser from deviating from its claimed investment process.”
said Adam S. Aderton, Co-Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Asset Management Unit.

Wahed Invest consented to the entry of the SEC’s order finding that the firm violated Sections 206(2) and 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and Rules 206(4)-1(a) and 206(4)-7.
Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, Wahed Invest agreed to a cease-and-desist order, to pay a $300,000 penalty, and to retain an independent compliance consultant among other undertakings.
Wahed Invest obtained regulatory approval to provide robo-advisory services in Malaysia by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) in October 2019. It was the 3rd to receive the nod from SC and the first Islamic robo-advisor in Malaysia.

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Payments
Sponsored

Deep Dive: Uncovering Short-term Opportunities for Global Banking

									by Zhenya Winter, Head of Financial Messaging Marketing EMEA & APAC, Bottomline Technologies
February 11, 2022
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The banking sector in Asia Pacific is filled with opportunity in 2022, whilst also facing intensified competition. Rapid infrastructure developments and emerging technologies coupled with the pandemic have accelerated digital adoption across the region.
Industry wide initiatives, most notably the migration to ISO 20022, aim to improve the efficiency and security of real-time and cross-border payments.
Many banks are already adopting ISO 20022 for all their payments infrastructures including SWIFT, BahtNet, RENTAS, RITS, CHATS, PhilPaSS and MEPS+.
In short, regulations, deadlines and new technology combined make this a year for make or break propositions.
Any financial institution taking a casual approach to soft deadlines, like ISO 20022 and digital transformation is playing with fire. 2022 will be the year that you compete, or regret that you didn’t.
Bottomline has recently taken the temperature of financial institutions on a global scale in our report “The Future of Competitive Advantage in Banking & Payments.”
It shows that financial institutions are mostly focused on the core issues; digital transformation, regulation and changes in financial messaging.
When we took a deeper dive with a lens on urgency, five key points emerged:
1. Digital Transformation emerges as top priority
This was, by some margin, the top ranked concern globally, with 64% of respondents prioritising digital transformation, which is linked to concerns two and three, real-time payments and cross border payments.
In Asia this figure rose to 78%. No digital transformation equals no new payment rails and no cross-border innovation.
Whilst digitisation has been a key focus for many financial institutions over the last decade, the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation developments.
For example, the sharp increase in the contactless user base (estimated to be as high as 20% in Asia) and the increased threat of fraud has demanded banks to react promptly, foster innovation and ensure compliance and security within their infrastructures.
Some insiders will tell you that the potential problem with this implementation is not technology. It’s people. The finance leaders that are most responsible for the fundamentals (money coming in and money going out) don’t have an issue with legacy technology.
If finance leaders are prioritising legacy technology, it is challenging to deliver everything on their payments agenda.
Overall, however, there’s an understanding within the larger banks that infrastructure needs to be modernised, so problems with buy-in at any level of the organisation needs to be solved quickly.

2. Regtech as a driver for growth
Asia Pacific in particular has witnessed a rapid increase in regulatory requirements over the last decade, which in turn has led to a boom in regtech usage by financial institutions to remain compliant.
In our research, 64% of respondents globally said that regtech will become even more important in the next 12 months, with this rising to 76% when isolating respondents based in APAC.

Each country across the region has its own regulators and requirements which are continuously evolving.
This presents an opportunity for regtech innovation and solutions to help financial institutions comply with the differences in regulations and streamline in-house compliance processes.
We believe financial institutions are therefore seeing regtech as more than a deadline for business continuity.
They’re seeing it as a driver for growth, an opportunity to improve customer service and protection against the rising threat of fraud.
3. Financial institutions need to get their skates on when it comes to ISO 20022 implementation
The findings here are a bit concerning. Our report found 13% of banks and financial institutions have started to implement ISO 20022, 15% are mid-way through and 13% have completed the integration.
These numbers reduce further for APAC, where only 5% of organisations have already implemented ISO 20022.
The SWIFT CBPR+ deadline of November 2022 is quickly approaching and many of APAC’s market infrastructures have already migrated (PhilPaSS – 2021) / are starting to migrate (MEPS+, RENTAS, BahtNet – H1, 2022).

Every real-time system has ISO 20022 as its messaging standard. You can’t fully leverage big data without ISO because you’re using analog messaging.
That means that you can’t gain the insights that develop better customer experiences and new revenue streams.
The universal roll out will lead to enhanced interoperability and standardisation between countries as the region migrates to a single messaging standard.
It will be nearly impossible to compete in 2022 without ISO 20022.
4. The industry is addressing existing cross-border pain points
In our survey, 31% said that the biggest obstacle when sending cross border payments is the cost of “nostro” accounts.
A nostro account is an account that a bank holds in a foreign currency at another bank.
In Asia-Pacific, for example, the cost of frozen liquidity in nostro accounts and other fees dock the average bank for US$1.7 million a year.
Some stakeholders have suggested that the proliferation of central bank digital currency (CBDCs) could help solve issues associated with nostro accounts.
But that won’t come in the short term. Financial institutions have faith in collaboration and co-existence.

‘Lack of visibility on payment status’ and ‘slow or unknown speed of arrival’ were also identified as key pain points.
The good news is that we’re seeing more collaboration between central banks in APAC to deliver seamless and secure cross border payments.
For example, in April 2021, The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) launched the PayNow and PromptPay linkage which allows consumers in both countries to send payments instantly.
Plans are also in place to scale the linkage to help facilitate business transactions across ASEAN.
In November, MAS and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas announced an enhanced Fintech Cooperation Agreement to facilitate the linkage of Singapore’s and the Philippines’ real-time and QR payment systems to provide instant, low-cost cross-border payments.
The SWIFT Global Payment Initiative (gpi) also addresses these concerns.
The initiative improves the efficiency of cross border payments, enables end-to-end tracking and provides confirmation of payment to the recipient’s account.
The SWIFT gpi is being used by 4000+ financial institutions globally and payments are being made in 150+ currencies across more than 2500 country corridors.
Collaboration between central banks, as well as industry wide initiatives such as ISO 20022 and the SWIFT gpi, are paving the way for frictionless cross border payments and the vision of a pan-regional payment system in ASEAN is becoming more attainable.
5. Real-time payments hindered by barriers to adoption
The future of payments is in real-time. But it’s prioritisation within an already busy road-map that will be the greatest barrier to its adoption globally, according to our research.
Banks and financial institutions have a great deal to accomplish from a regulatory and industry compliance point of view, with ISO 20022, the SWIFT CSP etc.
Additionally, COVID-19 has led to a rapid increase in the use of digital payments, making the education of customers front and center since 2020.
This is somewhat less of a challenge for APAC, which has been leading the way in terms of contactless technology, apps and QR codes.

Real-time payment technologies have long been in the region, with Japan launching its Zengin System in the 1970’s.
There are now many domestic payment schemes across the region, including Hong Kong’s Faster Payments System, Singapore’s Fast and Secure Transfers and Thailand’s Prompt Pay.
However, according to our research, many barriers to adoption still exist such as restrictive access models and legacy infrastructure.
The good news is existing domestic payment schemes (such as those in Malaysia, Singapore and Japan) are being updated as efforts are being made to improve the speed and reliability of instant cross border payments, whilst other payment infrastructures in the region are in the works.
The migration to ISO 20022 will of course support these efforts.
The Bottomline
There’s a difference between driving innovation and feeling forced to do it. There’s also a difference between improving the customer experience and being mandated to do it.
It will be the financial institutions that understand the necessity of harnessing innovation to compete in 2022 that will be the winners.
Download Bottomline’s benchmarking report yourself and see how you measure up against your competition.

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AI
WealthTech

Kenanga Debuts Its AI-Driven Robo-Advisor

									by Fintech News Malaysia
February 15, 2022
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Kenanga Investment Bank announced that it has launched its AI-driven robo-advisor that aims to simplify how Malaysians save and invest.
The Kenanga Digital Investing (KDI) is licensed by the Securities Commission Malaysia and offers two products – KDI Save and KDI Invest.
KDI Save allows users to earn daily returns on their savings with no lock-in period and zero management fees.

From now till end of the year, KDI Save offers a market leading 3.0% fixed interest rate.
Meanwhile, KDI Invest allows customers to grow their wealth with access to global investment opportunities through US-listed Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) at competitive fees.
Kenanga added that the KDI Invest offering is free for investments below RM3,000 while investors above that limit will be charged a management fee between 0.3% to 0.7% per annum,.
Ian Lloyd
“KDI is another step in our vision to make investing accessible to everyone. With initial investments as low as RM250, customers can invest in global equities.

We are proud to launch KDI Save, a cash management product with one of the highest returns in the market, while KDI Invest provides gateway to the global markets at an affordable fee,”
said Ian Lloyd, Group Chief Digital Officer, Kenanga Investment Bank.

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Payments

PayNet Launches Digital Payments Accelerator With Grants up to RM500,000

									by Fintech News Malaysia
February 21, 2022
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Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet) has launched the Fintech ePayment Accelerator Programme which aims to support and advance startups focused on that segment.
The three-months programme focuses on ideas and solutions that can help accelerate the adoption of digital payments in the country especially by onboarding the unbanked and underbanked population.
Additionally, the programme also aims to improve PayNet‘s existing retail products with enhancements that are more appealing and effective for the users.

PayNet’s programme is also on the lookout for new business solutions as existing retail payment use cases may not be sufficient to meet the customers’ evolving needs as well as expansion into new market segments.
In collaboration with the Fintech Association of Malaysia (FAOM), briefing sessions on the programme and PayNet’s products will be held.
Applicants will be shortlisted based on the solutions submitted and will advance to a pitching session in June 2022.
Successful fintechs will be awarded a grant of up to RM500,000 to support the execution of their proof-of concept (POC) and will have the opportunity to work with PayNet’s extensive ecosystem of banks, e-wallets and third party acquirers.
Applications are now open until 30 April 2022 here. Submissions should consist of a pitch deck or a video presentation addressing the problem statement and include an introduction of the team.
Peter Schiesser
Peter Schiesser, Group CEO of PayNet said,
“This programme is timely and relevant as part as our efforts to develop a future ready digital payments infrastructure and help Malaysia transition towards a digital economy.

I urge potential fintechs to seize this opportunity to showcase their solutions and partake in expanding the country’s digital ecosystem and advancing financial inclusion.”

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Payments
Sponsored

PayNet Appoints Farhan Ahmad as Its Group Chief Executive Officer

									by Fintech News Malaysia
February 25, 2022
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Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet), the national payments network and shared central infrastructure for Malaysia’s financial markets, has named Farhan Ahmad as its new Group Chief Executive Officer effective 12 April 2022, succeeding Peter Schiesser.
Farhan was the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bento for Business, a fintech company based in Chicago and San Francisco that provides payment and expense management services to small and mid-sized businesses.
He has extensive experience within the payments and banking services industry, having held significant leadership roles in several financial institutions like Barclays, Discover Financial Services, JP Morgan Chase, Bank One and FirstUSA.
He was also a founding member of Aceva Technologies, a company that offered real time credit and promotional financing products to online retailers and he had successfully developed and launched Chase HealthAdvance, an independent healthcare financing business within JPMorgan Chase.
Farhan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania.
With his broad experience in private payment system initiatives and passion to make financial services accessible and transparent for all, he now aspires to contribute on a national basis and drive PayNet towards achieving its vision in empowering Malaysia’s digital economy.
Datuk Ahmad Hizzad Baharuddin, Chairman of PayNet Board said,
“The Board welcomes Farhan as the new CEO of PayNet. Farhan was selected after an extensive executive search and highly competitive selection process. As PayNet continues its next phase of growth in fulfilling its mission as a trusted enabler of inclusive and collaborative financial ecosystems, while continuing to create value for the benefit of all our stakeholders, the Board is confident that Farhan is the right candidate to lead PayNet into the future. The decision was based on his strong knowledge of the business, his wealth of experience from the financial services industry and his ability to build successful organisations and businesses. In achieving the desired outcomes envisioned in Malaysia’s recently launched Financial Sector Blueprint 2022-2026, PayNet’s role has become more important than ever. An efficient and futureproof shared payments infrastructure is key in advancing the digitalisation of the financial sector and in facilitating deeper international linkages. Additionally, in improving the well-being of the people, the shared payments infrastructure that PayNet offers should contribute towards improved access to financial services particularly in the underserved communities and support our financial institutions and vibrant fintech sector to be at the forefront of innovation. We are confident that he and the team at PayNet will be able to develop and drive PayNet forward.”
Datuk Hizzad says further,
“On behalf of PayNet’s board, I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Peter for his years of commitment and admirable service to bring PayNet to what it is today.

Under his leadership, PayNet has experienced significant growth and is well-positioned for the future, of which, the board is extremely grateful and wish to record its heartfelt appreciation. The board wishes him all the best for the future.”
Peter Schiesser
Peter who served as the Group Chief Executive Officer of PayNet since the merger of Malaysian Electronic Clearing Corporation (MyClear) and Malaysian Electronic Payment System (MEPS) in 2017, will be retiring on 9 April 2022.
Under Peter’s leadership, PayNet launched the Real-Time Retail Payments Platform (RPP) in 2019 which won the Celent Model Bank 2021 Award for Financial Infrastructure and named the Best in Future of Industry Ecosystems by IDC Malaysia.
The retail payment systems including the IBG, JomPAY, FPX and MyDebit operated by PayNet processes over 2 billion transactions annually.
His unwavering commitment and dedication to support the central bank’s efforts to reduce paper-based payments and promote e-payment adoption also saw cheque usage halved in 3 years from 169 million in 2017 to 84.5 million in 2020.

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Payments

Fave Launches Tech Hub to Onboard up to 100 Engineers in 2022

									by Fintech News Malaysia
February 25, 2022
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Payments platform Fave announced that it has launched its Tech Hub in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to groom engineering talents and drive digital innovation in Southeast Asia.
Over a period of 4 cohorts scheduled on 21 March, 9 May, 4 July and 5 September, Fave aims to double its internship intakes and aims to onboard up to 100 engineers in 2022.
Tech Hub will provide participants with training, professional certification, mentoring and coaching, product development projects, as well workshops and eventually placement offerings across Fave and Pine Labs’ companies.

Kickstarting with the first batch, the programme will mainly focus on fresh graduates, making them industry-ready.
The programme also targets individuals who are career shifters and self learners with strong interest in software engineering by learning through YouTube, Coursera, Udemy, Stack Overflow, LinkedIn.
In collaboration with universities and training partner iTrain who will helm the rigorous 6-week technical and soft-skill modules.
Registration for the first intake closes on 3rd March.
Arzumy MD
Arzumy MD, CTO of Fave said,
“We are proud to be taking a leading role in building a pipeline of talent that will benefit the entire ecosystem and digital innovation in the region.

With the launch of Fave’s Tech Hub and our versatile training approach, we are confident in shaping the next generation of experts to revolutionise SEA’s fintech landscape.”

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Lending
Proptech

EdgeProp Malaysia and Finology Rolls Out LoanReport for Pre-Approved Loans

									by Fintech News Malaysia
February 28, 2022
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Property portal EdgeProp Malaysia has launched a home loan pre-approval tool dubbed as the “LoanReport” that was developed in partnership with Finology, a Malaysian-based fintech company that specialises in enabling digital underwriting for loan and insurance products.
The tool can assist homebuyers in understanding their borrowing ability better and to get a pre-approved mortgage loan with banks.
LoanReport also provides the indicative market price of a property together with a credit report from CCRIS and CTOS.

This gives a realistic overview of the user’s eligibility in getting a loan.
There are no charges to use LoanReport and users are able to get their pre-approved loan from three different banks.
Alvin Ong
Alvin Ong, Managing Director of EdgeProp Malaysia said,
“At EdgeProp, our focus is to empower home buyers and owners with tools, technology, and support that make them more efficient and profitable.

The inclusion of our proprietary home pricing algorithm will provide users with a more accurate view of how much their homes are worth and potentially get a better refinancing deal,”
Robin Ang
Robin Ang, Chief Executive Officer of Finology said,
“Finology has long been an enabler of embedded financial product offerings. We’ve made seamless access available on many digital platforms.

Our collaboration with EdgeProp adds one more to our track record of helping other businesses expand the scope of their offerings to include financial products, and represents another step forward in our mission to improve access to financial products for Malaysians.”

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Digital Transformation

Finexus Invests RM10 Million to Build Digital Penang’s Fintech Ecosystem

									by Fintech News Malaysia
March 1, 2022
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Finexus, a Malaysian financial services technology vendor, announced that it will invest RM10 million in the next 5 years building a sustainable fintech eco-system in Penang.
The company will be collaborating with local fintechs and digital companies in the Creative Digital District @ George Town (CD2@George Town) to support Penang’s Digital Transformation Masterplan 1.0.
Finexus will work with VCs, fintechs, digital startups and mid-growth companies by providing them with its ready-to-use MyXaaS collaboration platform.

The platform offers services such as Application as a Service, Financial as a Service and capital lending.
These services will enable aspiring digital companies to develop their digital products, services and go to market by leveraging Finexus’ ready-to-use services without having to build many software components from scratch.
CD2@George Town will act as a catalyst to spur innovation and investments in digital technology, software services and creative arts.
In line with this, Digital Penang is targeting to attract 50 digital investors into with an investment commitment of 2,000 high-income jobs in the district over the next 3 years.
Clement Loh
“MyXaaS Everything as a Service consists of software and financial services such as eKYC remote onboarding, credits background checks, legal agreement digital signing, cards wallets and payments acceptance processing such as DUITNOW and Mastercard brands, Buy Now, Pay Later and ERP services and much more.

All MyXaaS services comply with and have obtained regulatory approvals, where required”
said Clement Loh, Group MD and CEO of Finexus Group.
Tony Yeoh
“This partnership is in line with our aim towards driving the digital journey as we utilise digital technologies in a more pervasive way.

With Finexus establishing a Fintech R&D hub in Penang, we believe that our talents will be well-equipped to adapt to a world of rising automation and software.”
said Tony Yeoh, CEO of Digital Penang.

Featured image: Launch of Creative Digital District by Penang Chief Minister, Chon Kon Yeow (5th from right) with Finexus Group MD and CEO, Clement Loh (most right)

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Blockchain/Bitcoin

Binance Takes Strategic Stake in Malaysian Crypto Exchange MX Global

									by Fintech News Malaysia
March 1, 2022
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MX Global today announced an equity investment into the company from Binance, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges.
In addition, MX Global also landed another investment for Redeemable Convertible Preference Shares (RCPS) into the company by Cuscapi Berhad, a pioneer digital business solutions provider in Malaysia.
They said that these new capital injections will allow MX Global to build brand awareness, hire more high-quality talent and develop new features within Malaysia’s regulatory framework.

MX Global is one of the four Recognized Market Operator-Digital Asset Exchange (RMO-DAX) that has been granted full approval by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) in July 2021.
Dato’ Fadzli Shah
CEO of MX Global, Dato’ Fadzli Shah said
“MX Global aspires to be the preferred liquidity platform for digital asset or cryptocurrency investors and token issuers locally and internationally. The cooperation of Binance will not only support us in achieving this goal but should also provide the most capital-efficient opportunity for us to align and compete with other global players in the industry. We will continue building a safe, easy and real digital asset ecosystem for our customers.”
With this initial effort to support sustainable growth in the cryptocurrency market in Southeast Asia, Binance hopes to work with regional and local partners to drive further collaborations.
Changpeng Zhao

Changpeng Zhao (CZ), Founder and CEO of Binance, said:
“We see potential in Malaysia given its respected and innovative crypto and blockchain community. We believe that partnering with MX Global will be a springboard to new opportunities, both in Malaysia and the region as a whole as well as across the entire crypto and blockchain ecosystem.”

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Lending

Maybank Launches Digital Home Financing Solution Within Its MAE App

									by Fintech News Malaysia
March 3, 2022
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Maybank announced that it has launched its digital home financing solution “Maybank Home2u” on its MAE app that is capable of providing approvals within 10 seconds and is available to both existing and new customers.
Backed by Maybank’s proprietary automated decisioning engine, the solution offers a fully digital experience from application to approval and signing of Letter of Offer (LO) – without having to visit a branch.
Customers with salary credited into Maybank can apply for home financing up to RM1 million without submitting income documents and have the flexibility to package their home financing insurance via Maybank Home2u.

They will receive near real-time approvals if the home they are applying for is from the list of residential properties within the app.
Once approved, the bank’s mortgage advisors will contact successful applicants to review the LO and perform the required ‘Know-Your-Customer’ verification, as well as complete the electronic signing of the LO on the spot.
Those interested applying for home financing on a property that is not listed within the app can also apply via Maybank Home2u to kick off their home financing process.
A mortgage advisor who will be available 24/7 and will be automatically assigned to assist them to complete their applications.
Currently, customers have the option to apply for conventional or Islamic home financing under Maybank Home2u – Maybank MaxiHome and My First Home Scheme (for Conventional), and Commodity Murabahah Home-Financing-i and My First Home Scheme-i (for Islamic).
Dato’ John Chong
Group CEO of Maybank’s Community Financial Services, Dato’ John Chong said,
“The engine behind Maybank Home2u, which is developed wholly by our team, allows for instant eligibility checks and real-time approvals without the need for manual intervention.

This enables us not only to enhance the customer experience for our home financing applications, but also expand our operational efficiency in the processing of home financing applications.”

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Lending

GHL Secures Ministry’s Approval to Roll Out Its Merchants Digital Lending Services

									by Fintech News Malaysia
March 3, 2022
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GHL Systems has rolled out digital lending services for its merchants in February 2022 following approvals from The Ministry of Housing and Local Government (Kementerian Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan – KPKT).
The digital lending service by GHL is set to provide a platform that allows automated onboarding, disbursement, and repayment process to facilitate the micro-financing journey.
Further easing the financing process, the credit assessment of merchant applicants will be performed based on the readily available merchant’s historical transaction data.

Collection or repayment of the financing on the other hand, will be done through merchant settlement, simplifying repayment and collection process.
GHL Systems is part of the digital ‘Credit community’ providers under KPKT which is spearheaded by the government which aims to make micro financing more accessible throughout community, thus reducing demand for illegal and illicit lending.
In November 2020, KPKT had announced that GHL was one of eight operators were granted the first batch of approvals to provide online loans.
Sean Hesh
Sean Hesh, Group CEO of GHL Systems Berhad said,
“Access to reliable credit is especially beneficial to the SMEs, supporting their business cash flow and helping businesses adapt to the transformed economic landscape post-pandemic.

The digital lending initiative brings with it a quick-to-market process and is a step in the right direction for Malaysia, increasing financial inclusion and innovation.”
Kevin Lee
Kevin Lee, CEO Malaysia of GHL Systems Malaysia said,
“We advocate efforts to bridge the payment and credit gap among the financially underserved population, while always keeping in mind to diversify our offerings to include more meaningful value add services for our merchants.”

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Lending

BigPay to Roll Out Fully Digital Loans Regulated by KPKT

									by Fintech News Malaysia
March 3, 2022
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BigPay, a Capital A venture company and digital bank aspirant, announced the launch of its fully digital loans issued by “BigPay Later”, a wholly owned subsidiary within the group and a digital money lending license holder.
The personal product issued by BigPay Later is fully regulated by Malaysia’s Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT).
This is BigPay’s first personal loan product offering which is currently available to selected users and will be progressively rolled out to more users.

BigPay said it it offers competitive interest rates which are lower than standard credit card rates and easier to apply for with it being an all digital process.
Users can generate an instant quote using the in-app loan calculator to ensure affordability, then fill in their personal details via the app to apply.
Additional documents are not usually required and the application can be approved within minutes.
Additionally, there is a loan dashboard features a repayment schedule with a transparent breakdown of repayment installments and an auto-payment option to prevent users falling behind on repayments.
Since its inception in 2017, BigPay has continuously added multiple regulated financial products to its offerings, including an e-money account, international remittance, micro-insurance and budgeting.
BigPay Later was named one of the eight companies in Malaysia to receive a provisional license for online money lending by the KPKT.
Earlier today, GHL announced that it had also received the necessary approvals to roll out its digital lending offering.
Salim Dhanani
Salim Dhanani, CEO and Co-Founder of BigPay said,
“We believe that the launch of our personal loans product is unique with the level of transparency, the ease of use and the way in which we do our credit scoring that doesn’t only look at the history of past loans, but also at customer behavior.

The launch of the personal loans product brings us one step closer to bridging the financial inclusion gap.”
Tony Fernandes
Tony Fernandes, CEO of Capital A said,
“We are very proud of BigPay Later’s launch of the first digital personal loans product. BigPay has the ability to leverage Capital A’s rich database and customers that have strong loyalty to our brands.

We are excited that we can disrupt once again and give the common man, from SMEs, small entrepreneurs to the mass public, the same accessibility to easy, simple loans and other outstanding financial services.”

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Payments
Sponsored

Unlocking APAC’s Cross-Border Commerce Opportunity with Embedded Payments

									by Fintech News Malaysia
March 9, 2022
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In Asia Pacific (APAC), the rapid development of cross-border e-commerce has fueled demand for cross-border payment capabilities and embedded financial solutions as small, online businesses embrace digital technologies to broaden their reach and go global, a recent report by Currencycloud shows.
Embedded finance enables any company to embed pre-built financial solutions via an API integration into their offerings. These solutions can be anything ranging from payments and lending, to other specialised services such as insurance coverage, and investments.
There are many reasons for the rise of embedded finance, including friendly regulations, acceleration toward a cashless society, and the growth of e-commerce.
But above all, it is the ease of use and convenience these solutions provide that has gotten consumers hooked.
Customers can now make cashless payments right from a ride-sharing app, or they can apply for personal loans at the point of purchase with the tap of a button.
For businesses, embedding financial services means improved customer experience as well as increased stickiness. Asia’s fintech leaders and super-apps, including Grab, GoJek, WeChat and Kakao, are evidence of that.
By partnering with third-party providers and banks, these platform players have built vast ecosystems of virtual products and services and are now ingrained into users’ daily lives, providing not only online messaging, social media and marketplaces, but also digital payments, online investment products, and consumer loans.
The embedded finance trend has picked up at such a fast pace that US-headquartered private equity firm Lightyear Capital forecasts that the global aggregate revenue from embedded financial solutions will balloon by 922% between 2021 and 2025 to reach US$230 billion.
Within the next ten years, the space is projected to grow into a US$7 trillion industry.
Embedded finance forecast Source: Lightyear Capital
Enabling cross-border commerce
During a December 2021 Hot Topic Briefing, experts from the Emerging Payments Association Asia (EPAA) and cross-border payment firm Currencycloud discussed the rise of embedded finance in APAC.
A subsequent whitepaper detailed the different topics covered during the discussion, outlining the key technologies and drivers pushing businesses towards embedded finance.
According to the paper, technologies including near-field communication (NFC), tokenisation and QR codes are offering a rich trove of opportunities for the seamless provision of financial services through mobile apps and websites as well as wearables.
COVID-19 has changed consumers’ behavior in a meaningful way, forcing people to embrace contactless payments, the paper says.
As adoption of payment methods including digital wallets and smart cards continues to rise, it appears that the next stage of evolution will be wearable payments.This trend will be driven by customers’ demand for greater convenience, growing adoption of the Internet-of-Things (IoT), and development in virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR) technologies, one research firm predicts.
Not only that, but a changing regulatory landscape characterised by open finance regulations and market liberalisation pushes will help facilitate the exchange of data between market participants, and offer the opportunity for a larger group of businesses to participate in the provision of financial services.
Against this backdrop, embedded finance is now stepping into its third maturity level where the concept is being applied to other areas of finance and banking, including credit, insurance, investment and cross-border transactions, the paper says.
Five maturity levels of embedded finance, Source: Powering cross-border payments through a modular approach
In APAC, one trend that’s making embedded cross-border payments so relevant today is the booming cross-border e-commerce market.
For example, China, one of the most mature markets for cross-border e-commerce across the region, has seen its sector reach US$1.5 trillion, according to Deloitte.
Of that amount, 72.8% went towards cross-border business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce, a segment that’s expected to grow to US$2.2 trillion by 2026.
Degree of digitalisation across all links of cross-border e-commerce, Source: Deloitte
Singapore is another developed cross-border e-commerce market with consumers increasingly embracing the opportunity to spend with overseas businesses.
In 2020, 73% of online consumers in the city-state indicated having shopped from overseas merchants, according to a JP Morgan study.
At the time, the cross-border e-commerce market in Singapore was worth S$2.91 billion (US$2.15 billion), and accounted for 35% of the nation’s overall Singaporean e-commerce market, showcasing the dynamism.
In APAC, SMEs have been the main drivers of digital transformation in cross-border trade, and now make up 85% of the region’s cross-border e-commerce sector, according to Deloitte.
They are increasingly engaging in global trade, aided by cross-border e-commerce platforms such as Shopee and Lazada, but also embedded finance technology providers like Currencycloud, to help them sell their products to broader markets.
SMEs are driving these changes as well as existing opportunities for massive growth in the coming years.
Founded in 2012 in the UK, Currencycloud provides a ready-made suite of solutions that businesses can embed easily via APIs, allowing companies of all sizes and industries to offer their customers virtual accounts, multi-currency wallets, currency exchange services, and more.
Learn more about embedded finance in APAC and how Currencycloud supports banks, fintechs and other businesses with their cross-border payments needs here.

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WealthTech

Airasia Super App Users Will Soon Be Able to Make In-App Investments

									by Fintech News Malaysia
March 8, 2022
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AirAsia Super App has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with CGS-CIMB Securities to enable its users to make investments from within the app.
Both entities said in a joint statement that they will combine their respective strengths to democratise capital market offerings for the masses by making it accessible, affordable, and digitally inclusive.
Responding to an email clarification from Fintech News Malaysia, an AirAsia Super App representative said that they are looking to enable users to buy stocks through the app within the next few months.

They added that they are now working with CGS CIMB Securities to obtain the appropriate license from Securities Commission Malaysia

Mohamad Hafidz
Mohamad Hafidz Mohd Fadzil, Chief Fintech Officer at AirAsia Super App said,
“We are very excited about this partnership with CGS-CIMB Securities, and truly believe it bodes well with our ethos of providing services that are inclusive, affordable and accessible.

We believe we will be able to provide the common man with the best financial services that have largely been available to the limited few in society, and live up to our mission of serving the underserved.”
Ruzi Rani Ajith
Ruzi Rani Ajith, Chief Executive Officer of CGS-CIMB Securities said,
“With over 40 years of experience in Asia, we have evolved from being a pure play traditional broker to being a trusted financial solutions provider for not only institutional clients but also for the man in the street.

Ultimately, we want to create investment opportunities for those who would otherwise be left behind, with a platform that is simple to use and affordable.”

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Lending

Malaysia Debt Ventures Sets up RM500K Pilot Fund via Funding Societies

									by Fintech News Malaysia
March 10, 2022
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The Malaysia Debt Ventures (MDV), a subsidiary of the Minister of Finance (MOF) and dedicated technology financier, is allocating a pilot fund of RM500,000 to be invested via Funding Societies, a Southeast Asian SME digital financing platform.
This move aims to reach underserved businesses, particularly those aligned with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI)’s 10-10 Malaysian Science, Technology, Innovation and Economy (MySTIE) Framework, and to help the industry manage the post-pandemic recovery phase and regain momentum.
MDV is looking to allocate an initial sum of RM1 million for lending via digital financing platforms this year and expect to increase the investment up to RM5 million in the near term.

Funding Societies has a fully online onboarding process and the platform addresses typical challenges faced by SMEs when obtaining financing solutions including collateral requirement, physical documentation submission and lengthy processes.
The announcement comes on the back of its milestone RM1 billion business financing disbursement achieved earlier this year and the group’s recent US$294 million Series C+ fundraise announced in February.
Regionally, the platform has disbursed RM9 billion in business financing across 5 million financing deals to-date.
Wong Kah Meng
Wong Kah Meng, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Funding Societies Malaysia said,
“Participation by MDV as an institutional investor on our platform will allow us to enable more tailored financing solutions for underserved tech-based businesses, leveraging on our credit underwriting expertise of businesses operating in the digital economy.

This is very much in-line with MDV’s objective of supporting the technology ecosystem through flexible, accessible and innovative financing solutions to catalyse growth.”
Nizam Mohamed Nadzri
Nizam Mohamed Nadzri, Chief Executive Officer of MDV said,
“MDV’s participation in Funding Societies is expected to create significant impetus to the growth of the local fintech market and support MDV’s own venture debt customers who are in the space.

Funding Societies’ platform and reach have proven to be effective in providing tech MSMES with access to much-needed financing facilities in a timely and seamless manner, and MDV is pleased that we are able to make our mark in this growing market through this partnership.”

The investment programme comes timely as the Government is ramping up its efforts to boost the growth of startups and technology-based businesses and encourages participation from both public and private segments.

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