Payments

Tranglo Opens up New Payout Corridor to the UAE

									by Fintech News Malaysia
August 24, 2022
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Cross-border payments firm Tranglo announced that it has opened a new payment corridor to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
This is part of Tranglo’s Middle East expansion programme, which focuses on infrastructural investment and network building to add supplementary channels with huge growth potential.
Tranglo can now offer quick and seamless fund transfers to the UAE thanks to a single integrated partnership with the country’s banking network.

Payment security is ensured via validation of beneficiary’s details against the Emirates ID, passport or GCC national ID.
Tranglo’s direct-to-bank payout service is available 24/7 for individual senders and beneficiaries. Payments to most major banks in the UAE are processed and credited within the same day, subject to terms and conditions.
The UAE, the second largest economy in the Arab Gulf, is one of the top remittance senders and receivers in the world. In 2020, the country recorded US$42.7 billion and US$6.78 billion in remittance outflows and inflows, respectively.
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 25 countries reliably and securely.
Jacky Lee
Jacky Lee, Group CEO of Tranglo said,
“In 2013, we helped Etisalat launch UAE’s first international airtime transfer, benefiting millions of people. Today, our latest payment corridor will benefit many more seeking to remit funds to the country.

After months of fine-tuning our API connection and interbank switching protocols, we are confident that our cross-border business partners can now offer unbeatable value to their customers.”

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WealthTech

Kenanga Investment Bank Ties up With Ant Group to Launch Wealth Superapp

									by Fintech News Malaysia
August 24, 2022
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Kenanga Investment Bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ant Group to leverage mPaaS, a mobile development platform from the latter’s digital technology unit, to launch a Malaysian wealth superapp.
According to Kenanga, the superapp is geared to revolutionise how Malaysians approach wealth generation and management by integrating a suite of financial solutions, such as stock trading, digital investment management, e-wallet, crypto trading and foreign currency exchange, onto a single platform and ecosystem.
The development of this superapp extends the portfolio of digital products that Kenanga has successfully rolled out, from Rakuten Trade, Malaysia’s fastest-growing online stock trading platform, to Kenanga Digital Investing, a robo-advisor that has amassed over RM250 million in AUM in six months.

During a closed-door media session held recently, Kenanga revealed that they are targeting to launch the superapp by the first quarter of 2023.
Datuk Chay Wai Leong
“Having spent the year conceptualising and designing the SuperApp, we are thrilled to partner with Ant Group, a globally recognised and experienced infrastructure and platform provider, to develop this platform and bring it to life.

We look forward to not only unifying a broad spectrum of financial offerings under one roof, but more importantly, to make wealth creation more accessible by democratising financial services for the millions of Malaysians around the country who want better, swifter and cheaper access to financial products and solutions,”
said Datuk Chay Wai Leong, Group Managing Director, Kenanga Investment Bank.

Geoff Jiang
“We have been committed to supporting our customers to deliver faster, more reliable, and more convenient services to their end users.

Adopted by many businesses to build new apps and optimize the performance of existing apps, our financial-grade mPaaS mobile development platform is well-positioned to support Kenanga in integrating a wide range of products and services into its SuperApp.”
said Geoff Jiang, President of Ant Group’s Digital Technology Business Group.

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Insurtech

Tune Protect Malaysia Introduces Its First Critical Illness Offering

									by Fintech News Malaysia
August 24, 2022
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Tune Protect Malaysia, the general insurance arm of Tune Protect Group, has launched its first Critical Illness Insurance offering Critical Safe+.
Critical Safe+ is an online health insurance which covers advanced stages of critical illnesses with affordable cost, flexible options and wide range of benefits to create awareness and appeal to the younger generation.
The new offering provides customers with the option to stack and customise their health coverage based on their lifestyle needs and budget.

Tune Protect said that it has a 3:3:3 commitment where customers can buy in 3 minutes, receive a response in 3 hours, and get their claims paid in 3 working days.
In conjunction with the launch of Critical Safe+, the company will pay an additional 1% of the sum insured if customers do not receive their claims in 3 working days from the approval date.
According to the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2019, data showed that only 22% of the population are insured with personal health insurance (PHI), with 36% of the uninsured population claiming that PHI is not necessary and a staggering 43% of them unable to afford PHI.
Jubin Mehta
Jubin Mehta, Chief Executive Officer of Tune Protect Malaysia said,
“The current Malaysian economic climate is causing financial burnout on the working population. The increasing cost of living and escalating medical cost are not mirrored in the standard of living, where individuals are prone to health issues and illnesses.

The rising costs of healthcare facilities and result-oriented working lifestyles implies negligence on health. With Critical Safe+, customers can customise their insurance plan based on their budget and obtain the necessary financial protection against these critical illnesses. Leveraging on digital, we hope to expedite customers insurance journey and appeal to the millennials and zillennials.”

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Lending

GHL Partners Ablr to Offer BNPL Payment Options to Its Merchants and Consumers

									by Fintech News Malaysia
August 25, 2022
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Payment solutions provider GHL Systems (GHL) has partnered with Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) firm Ablr to offer enhanced payment solutions to its merchants and consumers.
Through this partnership, GHL’s merchant network is able to provide both businesses and consumers additional flexible payment options, without charging them any additional interest.
By leveraging on Ablr’s white label proprietary platform, GHL will provide flexible payment terms in the market to deliver more financing options for its customers.

Ablr had gone live in Malaysia last month with a network of over 30 brands in Malaysia and Singapore spanning over 250 merchant points.
Sean Hesh
“This strategic collaboration between GHL and Ablr aims to deliver an enhanced payment experience that caters to both our merchants and consumers.

With Ablr, our merchants will now have access to alternative payment methods which can scale their business by enabling bigger ticket purchases and build loyalty through value added offers and deals,”
said Sean Hesh, Group CEO of GHL.
Amanda Chin
“We are excited to work hand-in-hand with GHL with our expertise – one that will translate into a frictionless merchant and consumer experience.

Merchants and consumers are equally key when it comes to new payment offerings and together with GHL, we are building the infrastructure to support merchants’ growth and address the needs of tech-savvy consumers,”
said Amanda Chin, Co-founder and CEO of Ablr Malaysia.

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Digital Transformation
Islamic Fintech

Malaysian Takaful Association Partners With FAOM to Spur Fintech Adoption

									by Fintech News Malaysia
August 26, 2022
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The Malaysian Takaful Association (MTA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Fintech Association of Malaysia (FAOM) to spur the adoption of fintech among takaful players in Malaysia.
MTA said that this strategic initiative supports the 3 third strategic thrust of Bank Negara Malaysia’s Financial Sector Blueprint – to advance the digitalisation of the financial sector.
The 24-months cooperation has identified various areas of mutual cooperation to accelerate and encourage fintech in the takaful space.

FAOM will set out to connect subject matter experts with takaful industry players who can offer technical advice, share the latest trends in fintech industry and provide mentorship support to MTA.
MTA will be exploring platforms to connect and increase participation of FAOM members and fintech startups at its events, programmes and initiatives.
Both parties will support and co-organise programmes related to digital technology and digitalisation initiatives, takaful transformation and development as well as general awareness building
They will also support the cross promotional and marketing of each other’s programmes and initiatives.
Mohd Radzuan Mohamed, CEO of MTA said,
“The cooperation between the two associations will pave the way for Malaysian takaful operators to explore the potentials and opportunities of fintech as we individually and collectively aim to achieve greater productivity, efficiency and effectiveness in our business operations, stakeholder communications (including agency networks) as well as customer interactions.

More importantly, the cooperation allows us to explore avenues towards the implementation of initiatives identified under the Value Based Intermediation for Takaful (VBIT) Roadmap (launched in July 2022) and relevant initiatives under the national FSB 2022-2026.”
Wilson Beh
Wilson Beh, President of FAOM said that he expects the cooperation to bring value to the takaful players and the industry’s further development.
“It is exciting to think about the potential impact fintech can have in the takaful space and for Malaysian consumers.

With the introduction of takaful-tech, we can imagine revolutionising and simplifying the access to takaful protection plans, claims handling and management and agency transactions on your mobile phones and devices.”

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Crowdfunding
Lending
Malaysia

ECF and P2P Lending Has Helped Malaysia’s MSMEs Raise Over RM 2.7 Billion in Financing

									by Fintech News Malaysia
August 30, 2022
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In Malaysia, business financing through peer-to-peer (P2P) lending and equity crowdfunding (ECF) is on the rise, with a growing number of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) turning to digital platforms to secure capital, and more investors embracing the trend to earn higher yields.
New data released by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) show that between 2020 and 2021, MSME P2P lending and ECF activity in Malaysia picked up significantly.
ECF and P2P markets continued to grow, recording 74% and 122% increase in total fundraising for both markets, respectively, as well as 33.3% and 48.6% increase in the overall number of successful campaigns and participating issuers.

In total, ECF and P2P campaigns have raised more than RM 2.7 billion across 4,556 MSMEs.
Source: Securities Commission Malaysia
Looking at platforms’ volumes, data show that PitchIn was Malaysia’s biggest ECF platform last year, accounting for 38% of all funding raised through ECF campaigns in 2021 (RM 84.3 million (US$19 million)). At the second spot, with RM 46.9 million secured in 2021, is Mystartr. Mystartr recorded one of the strongest growth rates last year, with total funding raised jumping 179%.
Total amount fundraised via ECF platforms, Source: MyCIF annual report 2021, Securities Commission Malaysia
In P2P lending, it is Funding Societies that recorded the largest volume in 2021, helping MSMEs secure a total of RM 309.2 million, or 27% of all P2P funding raised last year. CapBay and Moneysave, meanwhile, witnessed the biggest growth between 2020 and 2021, with volumes rising more than fourfold and 20-fold, respectively.
Total amount fundraised via P2P platforms (Q4 2019 – 2020 vs 2021), Source: MyCIF annual report 2021, Securities Commission Malaysia
Malaysian MSMEs play a critical role in the local economy, contributing 37.4% to Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) and employed 47.8% of the workforce last year, according to Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
Yet, they’ve been among the sectors most badly hit by COVID-19. According to the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (MEDAC), a total of 37,415 businesses, mostly SMEs, closed following the pandemic, leading to massive job losses and significant household incomes decline.
With the market struggling to regain its footing, the government has implemented several initiatives to support MSMEs and help them recover from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Malaysia’s Finance Minister announced last year that the government would ramp up its support in equity and alternative MSMEs financing by allocating an additional RM 80 million to the SC-administered Malaysia Co-Investment Fund (MyCIF).
MyCIF, a public-private investment vehicle set up in 2019, co-invests in MSMEs and social enterprises alongside private investors via ECF and P2P lending platforms. The fund was established with an initial allocation of RM 100 million from the government.
Since its inception, MyCIF has co-invested a total of RM 357 million (US$80 million) in more than 16,000 ECF and P2P lending campaigns that benefited a total of 2,279 MSMEs, according to the SC. It’s most active in P2P lending, having joined a total of 15,946 P2P campaigns. So far, MyCIF has accumulated a net return of RM 4.6 million.
MyCIF is currently working on a new program in partnership with Funding Societies to help support the informal sector. The fund said it will co-invest in campaigns within the informal sector on a 1:1 co-investment ratio.
This year, MyCIF will continue to assist in ECF and P2P financing, but will have a specific focus on the agriculture sector, an industry which has been identified to be of strategic importance to the local economic recovery, the SC said.

Featured image credit: edited from Freepik and Unsplash

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Payments

Taiwan’s CTBC Bank Offers Tap-On-Phone Taxi Payments Powered by Soft Space

									by Fintech News Malaysia
August 30, 2022
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Taiwan’s CTBC Bank has partnered with Malaysian fintech firm Soft Space to allow its customers to pay their taxi fares through tap-on-phone payments.
CTBC Bank’s “Tap to Phone” service leverages Android smartphones with near-field communication (NFC) technology to accept contactless card payments powered by Soft Space.
Tap to Phone has been approved by payment brands and PCI CPoC standards to ensure that all payment transactions are encrypted with multiple security layers to prevent credit card information and sensitive data on the mobile phones or tablets from being accessed by third parties.

The cooperation with taxi operators Taiwan Taxi and its 55688 Delegated Driver Service includes over 5,000 taxi drivers and 2,000 designated drivers collectively.
They will not need to invest in expensive dedicated payment terminals and will have to sign up with CTBC Bank to activate their accounts.
Consumers can use a physical credit cards or mobile wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay or smart watches and wearables to make a quick payment by tapping the back of the driver’s mobile phone.
CTBC Bank will also provide receipts to consumers by SMS, email or QR code, which significantly reduces merchants’ burden of keeping paper receipts as well as eliminating the related risk and costs.
The payment options of Tap to Phone also support instalments and CTBC Banks’ reward points redemption.
“As the largest commercial bank in Taiwan, we are constantly finding new ways to enhance customer experiences.

By partnering Soft Space, we ensure that our innovation can empower small businesses, such as taxi drivers, to experience a more convenient, affordable, and secure way to collect fares, and Tap to Phone does exactly that,”
said a spokesperson from CTBC Bank.
Joel Tay
“This partnership has demonstrated that contactless payments have potentially limitless applications because Tap to Phone as a SoftPOS payment solution can be seamlessly deployed to what is already available out there in the market, in this case the thousands of NFC-enabled devices that taxis drivers own.

We are privileged to work with CTBC Bank on this and we are proud that our technology is being used to further democratise payments on a daily basis through taxis rides,”
said Joel Tay, Chief Executive Officer, Soft Space.

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Digital Transformation
Sponsored

Reinventing How FIs Interact With Their Customers Using Digitalisation

									by Fintech News Malaysia
September 5, 2022
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Consumer digital adoption and expanding regulatory frameworks in APAC present significant prospects for digital banking.
COVID-19 has enhanced this potential by boosting digital adoption and highlighting the paths to digital banking growth.
Building and developing a digital bank successfully necessitates a focus on three success pillars that encourage client interaction and assure vital business agility; customer obsession, scalable and flexible technology as well as agile organisation and governance.
Successful digital banks are always focused on what their local customers want.
They offer a strong value proposition and enticing product characteristics, which they reinforce through market testing on a regular basis.
Many of the customer-focused strategies employed by successful digital banks are similar to those used by top consumer-oriented technology businesses.
Digital banks also use an end-to-end approach that encompasses the whole customer journey, including acquisition, engagement, relationship strengthening, and customer referral.
They focus on much more than product features – satisfying digital client expectations requires a user-friendly and intuitive user interface (UI) and a good user experience (UX).
Success Story – New Mobile Banking Implementation and Internet Banking Channel Modernisation

This success story describes how global technology services firm Aspire Systems delivered a cutting-edge digital banking solution with an intuitive user experience for a prominent bank while also modernising their legacy systems.
About the Customer
Aspire’s client is a renowned provider of financial products and services in Malaysia, catering to both retail and corporate consumers.
The target business categories are organised into core business divisions such as community banking, enterprise banking, corporate banking, and treasury.
Pain Points
The bank lacked a modern customer-centric multi-channel solution for onboarding, providing services, and engaging with their retail customers on a constant basis.
Instead of a ready-to-use product, the bank desired a market-proven platform (MXDP) and a solution for a solid base for an expedited roadmap.
In addition, the bank sought to assure system performance while onboarding 1.4 million customers.
Aspire’s Solution
Aspire implemented Temenos Infinity Mobile and Internet Banking system with intuitive UX and back- office solution in this case.
The back office, service integration and orchestration, and a large portion of the UX solution were shared across channels. Infinity’s out-of-the-box mobile and internet banking system was adapted for the Malaysian market, including region-specific payment and other interfaces.
With a write once, deploy anywhere strategy, where a single code base can be deployed for both Android and iOS applications, the Infinity service orchestration system and MXDP enables the customer to swiftly develop and offer new services.
This provided an extra way to allow the legacy channel application to coexist until it is decommissioned.
In addition, Aspire supplied SIT test execution, performance testing, and security testing services. Due of pandemic limits, the solution was successfully implemented entirely remotely.
Results

Conclusion
Banking and financial institutions are always battling changing customer expectations. Adoption of digitally sound environments and offerings is merely the first step.
Aspire’s Digital Banking services will assist you in achieving end-to-end transformation for all your banking needs, while also creating superior customer experiences and enhancing operational efficiencies.
Increasing investment in technological integration, prioritising cyber security, constantly working towards digital upskilling of existing talent, and continuously innovating and building digital products for customers are all critical for banks looking to achieve full digital transformation in a shorter time frame.
Collaboration with digital-first financial services providers, such as fintechs and neobanks, may also help ensure quicker digital adoption among banks, facilitating the contribution to developing an interoperable, scalable, and future-proof digital ecosystem.
Download this case study to learn how Aspire delivered a cutting-edge digital banking solution for a prominent bank in Malaysia.

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Digital Transformation
Sponsored

How Indonesia’s BNPL Giant Leverages Data Science to Drive Innovation

									by Fintech News Malaysia
September 1, 2022
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Data science and machine learning are some of the most complex yet important business concepts today. And many companies, irrespective of their niche, rely on them to deliver a better user experience to their customers.
But what role do data science and machine learning play in the development of innovative financial systems, especially in countries like Indonesia?
The lack of credit history data combined with the substantial use of mobile phones in Indonesia represents a sweet spot for fintech companies to deliver advanced user-friendly consumer financial solutions.
In this episode of Data Point of View, Laurie Hood, Chief Marketing Officer at Mobilewalla spoke with Joel Samuel, VP, Head of Machine Learning Engineer, at FinAccel, the parent company of Indonesian Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) platform Kredivo.
They discussed the importance of machine learning and data science in accomplishing business goals and delivering a better user experience, the challenges in finding data science specialists, fintech and e-commerce development in Southeast Asia, and the essence of starting small.

Key insights from the podcast
There are two main reasons to provide better solutions in Indonesia
Joel and FinAccel aim to provide better fintech solutions to the Indonesian market for two reasons.
“The first one is the low penetration of credit cards In Indonesia. There are only 17 million credit cards compared to our population, which is around 250 million nowadays. So, there are only 0.07 credit cards per capita. It’s really low. The second one is the high penetration of mobile phones.

Currently, Indonesia has more than 119 million mobile phones. It’s almost 0.8 mobile phones per capita. So, it’s a sweet spot. You have a mobile phone, but you don’t have a credit card.”
We believe in ‘fail fast and learn fast.’
Joel and his team strongly believe that projects should be done little by little. That way, even if you fail, you’ll have the opportunity to quickly learn from your mistake.
“We can spot if there’s something wrong with the model that we pushed to production. We also really believe in ‘fail fast and learn fast.’

We always push the production little by little to see the effect and the impact of the model. So, we start with the simple things and the small things.”
According to Joel,
“E-commerce is booming in Indonesia, and the country has three or four “unicorns” that started based on e-commerce. One of the challenges with e-commerce, not only in Indonesia, but all around the world, is cart abandonment.

And that issue is more about the payment options or the payment channels. Most people abandon the cart because they have a hassle with the payment – that’s FinAccel’s sweet spot.”
Regarding the view of data science by senior leadership, Joel shared that “since the beginning, we’ve had buy-in from the top level, with the thinking that if we want to disrupt the best player in the market, like the bank or the multi-finance company that is already there, the one thing that we can do is introduce data science methodology.
He explained that they solve the problem in a better way because the firm’s top level management believes that data science is a big opportunity.
“But even though we have already defined our aim or the initiative that’s come from the top management, we have to prove that we can deliver that initiative or the buy-in at the very first unit.”
A challenge for data science teams is building organizational trust. At FinAccel the team had regular meetings with the COO and CEO over the first two years the team was in place to present their results.
They also have a good monitoring workflow and framework so that they can quickly spot if there’s something wrong with a model that was pushed to production.
Joel and his team have built confidence by starting with a small problem, moving quickly to production, and then seeing the results fast.
This way management can immediately see the impact of their data science approach.
Watch Mobilewalla’s Data Point of View podcast featuring Laurie Hood and Joel Samuel here.

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Funding
WealthTech

Versa Asia Raises an Eight-Figure Funding Round

									by Fintech News Malaysia
September 5, 2022
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Versa Asia, a Malaysian digital cash management platform, announced that it had secured an 8-figure funding round. Details of the investment was not disclosed.
This funding round was led by Hibiscus Fund, a venture capital fund managed by RHL Ventures and South Korean financial services conglomerate KB Investment.
Recurring investor Affin Hwang Asset Management also participated in this round, alongside new investors OSK Ventures and Singapore based HPRY Ventures.

Versa is currently a CIP Ignite II grant recipient under Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle) for commercialisation and is said to have doubled its deliverables thus far.
In addition to the funding announcement, Versa closes in on hitting a new milestone of RM200 million worth of transactions, doubling its transactions since the beginning of 2022.
Since its inception in 2021, Versa has expanded its product range to introduce Versa Invest, an investment fund managed by top global fund managers, in June this year.
Teoh Wei-Xiang
Teoh Wei-Xiang, Chief Executive Officer of Versa said,
“We have always strived to make our products simple and accessible, to enable everyone to save, invest and grow.

In light of the funding announcement, we are able to drive our vision and mission forward, to empower more people towards achieving their financial wellness goals and bridge the financial literacy gap in Malaysia.”

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Payments

Worldline’s Ingenico and GHL’s Paysys Pair Up to Tackle the Malaysian Payment Market

									by Fintech News Malaysia
September 7, 2022
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French and Malaysian payment solution providers Ingenico and Paysys have signed an agreement to combine their business strengths to address the Malaysian payment market.
Ingenico is part of the Worldline group, while Paysys is a wholly owned subsidiary of GHL Systems.
Under the agreement, Ingenico will sell some of its business and customer assets in Malaysia to GHL, allowing it to reinforce its presence in the country by combining its broad range of payment solutions with Paysys’ extensive market knowledge.

Paysys will provide customers in Malaysia with Ingenico’s payment solutions, including access to its terminal management and professional services, and its latest smart POS terminal AXIUM DX8000.
Additionally, Paysys will also have the opportunity to join Ingenico’s PartnerIN programme to access Ingenico’s technical, business, and go-to-market resources.
Frank Leong
Frank Leong, Chief Operating Officer of Paysys said,
“Over the past two years, the payment landscape has transformed significantly and this partnership enables us to sustain our competitive advantage while ensuring that consumer needs of flexible and secure payment methods are met.”
Nigel Lee
Nigel Lee, Ingenico’s Senior Vice President for Asia Pacific said,
“Building on our last 6 years in Malaysia, the agreement represents an expanded relationship to provide value and meet customer demand as the young and growing technology-friendly population across ASEAN adopts digital and alternative payment methods.”

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Regtech/Regulation

Heitech Padu-Backed tekkis Launches eKYC and Payments Solution

									by Fintech News Malaysia
September 8, 2022
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eKYC company tekkis, backed by HeiTech Padu Berhad, launched two software solutions called t-Pay and t-Verify to enable businesses to collect payments and onboard verified customers through no-code payment links and embedded identity verification.
t-Pay can be integrated into any website or app to accept online payments. It also comes with features that give businesses the ability to save their favourite payees and add them to pre-filled payment forms, as well as create payment links for fixed and variable amounts.
t-Verify helps companies ensure that their customers are real people with verified identities. The solution allows users to scan their photo ID from any device and utilises liveness detection that allows the system to detect the genuine presence of users through selfie verification.

The solution also protects against stolen IDs, impersonation, glare obstruction, and watermarks, while also detecting and preventing user registrations with expired IDs.
Joshua Smith
“The increasing number of security breaches have proven that better measures are required in order to safeguard the digital growth of Malaysian businesses.

t-Pay and t-Verify are the next best steps in an arms race we have against bad actors in an ever-changing landscape,”
says Joshua Smith, Founder and CEO of tekkis.

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Payments
Sponsored

How Travel Agents Can Benefit from Tranglo’s Payments Services

									by Fintech News Malaysia
September 19, 2022
0 comments

After two years of stasis, the pent-up demand to cross international borders again has breathed new life into the travel industry. The UNWTO reported that global international tourist arrivals more than doubled (+130%) in January 2022 compared to 2021, amounting to 18 million more visitors worldwide.
This has contributed to the rise in cross-border business payments. The frequency of this has meant the increase of cash transactions between everyone involved, from customers and business owners to suppliers and agents.
Like any business looking to grow and evolve, this section of your business would benefit from a solid and stable foundation.
This is where Tranglo Business comes in – a payment service which incorporates a single connection to its entire payments network. This would include 2,200 banks and wallets and 140,000 cash points – making it the widest payout network in Southeast Asia and Asia Pacific. Tranglo Business also removes the complexities that come with regulatory and compliance requirements, such as different money laws and customer screening obligations in different regions.

Payment journey of a travel agent
Consumers are looking for hotels, flights, car rentals, holiday experiences, insurance and a multitude of other services related to travel. If made through a travel agent, this would require:

the agent to reach out to their rolodex of suppliers
securing the booking with a payment
getting the payment authorised
having the supplier confirm the booking
confirming the booking with the consumer

As a travel agent making bookings on behalf of a customer, and ensuring all the important details are thought and taken care of, the travel agent would need to devote a significant amount of time and resources to this task. Here are some of the possibilities that can impact the payment journey (for the consumer) and booking process (for the travel agent):

Change in the original booking price stated
Change in the foreign exchange rate
The product or service is no longer available
The possibility of a fraud or scam

In any of these scenarios, the integration of a straightforward payment system and process would circumvent any missed transactions or deals – completing the payment journey for the consumer, and finalising the booking process for the travel agent.
With that, here is an FAQ guide for travel agents looking for an all-in-one cross-border payments solution.

Why should I choose Tranglo Business as my cross-border payment service?
Tranglo Business offers a lower fee in foreign exchange transfers compared to credit cards, as well as other front-facing money transfer platforms and traditional financial institutions. There are also no hidden charges on transactions. It will simply be the amount + Tranglo’s fee, and that is it.

It’s faster than traditional cross-border banking routes as it is a cash-to-cash transaction.

It is simple: signup is free and there is no commitment required to use this service.

What are my options if I sign up with Tranglo long-term? Will that help with business transactions?
There is a flat-fee model which you can opt for should you decide to use Tranglo Business long-term. This model is suitable for businesses that send large amounts of cross-border transactions.
The usual cross-border payment model would be a markup model, where it will be a percentage of the transaction amount as a fee. For example, if you send a large amount, it will be a percentage of that, so the bigger the amount you send, the more expensive it will be.
Other platforms may also require a commitment from you, including track records.

Can I customise my use of Tranglo Business? Specifically, if my business transactions require flexibility, can I do so?
Yes. If you would need to send multiple small amounts, a flat fee would accumulate to be more than expensive in total. There are avenues where it is possible to arrange a model, such as consumer market pricing, based on your cross-border payment needs, whether it is bulk or batch payouts.

Does Tranglo Business provide the collection and disbursement of funds?
Yes, Tranglo Business does provide the collection and disbursement of funds*. For travel agents, this would mean collecting from travellers or clients, and disbursing the funds to suppliers such as hotels, tourides, entrance fees into attractions and others. This provides a seamless payment journey where bookings and payments have been confirmed.

Are there any other benefits/offers/promotions?
Tranglo Business will put together smart reports that you can access when you need to do your bookkeeping or reconciliations. These reports even contain data that would give you access to market trends, assisting in targeting the right market.
Other benefits would include volume discounts, which can be explored due to the nature of the transactions.

* Collection service is currently available for companies based in Singapore and Malaysia. More to follow.

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Banking
Payments
Sponsored

How Tech Innovation Simplifies Payments and Reduce Risks for Fintechs, Digital Banks

									by Fintech News Malaysia
October 18, 2022
0 comments

In 2021, over 7.2 billion transactions were made with e-payment channels in Malaysia, a 30% year-on-year increase. This makes it the largest growth spurt since 2006, according to Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).
The effects of pandemic-accelerated digitalisation appear to be long-lasting, and not just a flash in the pan: an MDEC-IDC study expects the country’s e-commerce gross transaction value (GTV) to reach US$6 billion (RM25.2 billion) in 2022, doubling from the US$3 billion in 2019. It further forecasts e-commerce GTV to total US$13 billion by 2025, with almost all transactions conducted using digital payments.
Industry players have responded quickly to customer demand for e-payments: Malaysia’s fintech sector grew by 27% in 2021 to 294 fintech companies, of which 60 are payments players.

On the regulators’ end, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) issued the Financial Sector Blueprint 2022-2026 in January 2022, which sets out the central bank’s development priorities for the financial sector and shared ambitions for an open data ecosystem, a national digital identity scheme, and real-time payment linkages.
Three months later, BNM announced the successful applicants for the country’s first five digital bank licenses; a consortium of Boost and RHB Bank Berhad; a consortium led by GXS Bank Pte. Ltd. and Kuok Brothers Sdn. Bhd; a consortium led by Sea Limited and YTL Digital Capital Sdn Bhd; a consortium of AEON Financial Service Co., Ltd., AEON Credit Service (M) Berhad and MoneyLion Inc.; and a consortium led by KAF Investment Bank Sdn. Bhd.
With competition heating up and customer demands for more varied, secure, and frictionless services, a robust tech back-end is vital to support payment providers’ growth aspirations, while combating digital payments risks such as fraud, personal data protection, and other cyberthreats that can easily erode years of consumer trust and brand recognition.
Fintechs and digital banks need to be able to offer omnichannel payment solutions involving many variables, including cross-border payments, card schemas, biometrics, currency conversion, digital delivery of products, gifting, loyalty programmes, and cash funding and payouts to digital wallets – all while migrating to the latest ISO 20022 financial standards.
How can Ren help fintechs and digital banks offer omnichannel payment solutions?

Ren, Euronet’s flagship payments software, simplifies these various issues so fintechs and digital banks can focus on product development. Available as a single modular, programmable enterprise platform or several low-code solutions for specific payments use cases, Ren is able to meet payment providers where they are on their scalability or growth journey.
Ren’s flexibility also extends to helping state-owned enterprises and government-linked financiers fulfil their financial inclusion mandates and cater to MSMEs and the underbanked by accelerating their digital payments offerings.
In December 2021, Indonesia’s largest state-owned bank switching network, PT Jalin Pembayaran Nusantara (Jalin) announced that it would modernise its offerings using the Ren payments platform.
Ren solutions enable fast and easy onboarding for financial institutions to real-time payments (RTP) networks as well as digital payments overlay services such as P2P, bill payments, and payroll for RTP-enabled financial institutions.
Meanwhile, its merchant acquiring services include traditional and digital payments, ATMs and POS terminals. On the card issuing side, Ren aids customers in developing physical, tokenised, and virtual cards. Separately, it also offers a self-service product that allows for easy-to-use and advanced management for ATM fleets, POS systems, and kiosks.
Ren offers end-to-end managed services models as well as private and public cloud payment solutions. Created to address specific payments use cases, Ren solutions are designed to streamline installations with minimal configurations while its low-code requirements enable fintechs and digital banks to roll out new products to market quickly and cost-effectively.
For traditional banks that are making their digital pivot while still using ageing infrastructure, Ren’s on-premise data centres can be used in tandem with legacy systems to deliver modern, frictionless payments experiences. Customers may opt for a ‘pay as you grow’ model while implementing new payments functionalities incrementally according to their product roadmaps, available technical resources, and budgets.
For smaller, more mobile fintechs and payments players, Ren operates in popular cloud environments such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud.
Ren can also aid in custom projects, where Euronet teams will use Ren or physical assets from Euronet’s global payments network to build custom solutions. Finished projects will then be delivered as SaaS applications from Euronet’s data centres, a cloud provider of the customer’s choice or a customer’s on-premise data centre.
Euronet’s global payment network includes 51,062 ATMs, approximately 569,000 EFT POS terminals and a growing portfolio of outsourced debit and credit card services which are under management in 63 countries; card software solutions; a prepaid processing network of approximately 762,000 POS terminals at approximately 339,000 retailer locations in 63 countries and a global money transfer network of approximately 504,000 locations serving 182 countries and territories. With corporate headquarters in Leawood, Kansas, USA, and 66 worldwide offices, Euronet serves clients in approximately 190 countries and territories.
Trust Bank Singapore, the first of Singapore’s new wave of digital banks, has selected Euronet for payments processing. Leveraging Ren’s modern card issuing platform and hosted on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud, Trust has been able to serve over 200,000 customers within its first month since launch.
The payments world is evolving at a rapid pace, and businesses are seeking ways to capitalise on consumer demands for convenient, fast, and secure payment methods. Payments and transactions have plenty of pain points. While most technology solutions players are able to fix just one or two of those friction points, Ren addresses them all, providing the tools to fix immediate problems now with future-proof technology for building new solutions as customer needs evolve.
To learn more about Ren’s suite of solutions, visit their website.

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Blockchain/Bitcoin

Luno Malaysia to Add Cardano (ADA) and Solana (SOL) to Its Platform

									by Fintech News Malaysia
September 14, 2022
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Digital asset exchange Luno will be adding two cryptocurrencies to its platform: Cardano (ADA) on 21 September 2022 and Solana (SOL) on 6 October 2022.
This comes after the addition of Chainlink (LINK) and Uniswap (UNI) earlier this year, bringing the total number of coin offerings that Malaysian users can buy, sell and store on Luno to nine.
Cardano aims to be the most scalable and sustainable platform for running decentralised applications (dApps), while Solana claims to be the fastest blockchain in the world and the fastest growing ecosystem in crypto.

However, according to Luno, while ADA and SOL meet the platform’s standards for safety, the listing is not an endorsement of the coins’ future potential as an investment.
Aaron Tang
“Luno assesses prospective assets based on factors like security, compliance, and utility, but will always suggest that anyone looking to invest in crypto do the necessary research and exercise good judgement before investing,”
Luno Country Manager Aaron Tang said.

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Lending
Sponsored

UOB Malaysia Partners SJPP to Provide RM1 Billion in Green Financing to SMEs

									by Fintech News Malaysia
September 19, 2022
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UOB Malaysia is partnering Syarikat Jaminan Pembiayaan Perniagaan Malaysia (SJPP) to launch the U-Green Financing programme, which will support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in embracing sustainability.
The bank has allocated RM1 billion for this programme, and SJPP will be guaranteeing up to 80 percent of the loans through its PEMULIH Government Guarantee Scheme (PGGS).
UOB Malaysia is the first bank to tie up with SJPP on a green financing programme.
U-Green Financing is available to eligible SMEs and mid-sized companies from all industries looking to contribute to smart sustainable cities.
Companies will also be eligible if they want to develop or construct green buildings, facilitate green trade, or contribute to a circular economy.
Open to both existing UOB Malaysia customers as well as those new to the bank, the facilities are available in the form of term loans, overdraft facilities and trade financing.
In addition to providing financing, UOB Malaysia will also be collaborating with the Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation (MRANTI) to establish an ESG workshop series to equip SMEs with knowledge and practical insights to embark on their ESG journeys.
Through the workshops, SMEs will benefit from a syllabus that is co-developed by MRANTI and its approved training providers.
Ng Wei Wei
Ng Wei Wei, Chief Executive Officer of UOB Malaysia said,
“UOB Malaysia is proud to enter into this synergistic partnership with SJPP and MRANTI, which is highly complementary and crucial in supporting SMEs to adopt ESG practices. While the MRANTI workshop will assist SMEs in acquiring the necessary knowledge to embrace ESG, our partnership with SJPP will provide the financing support to help them kick-start their sustainability journey.
We are honoured to be the first bank to partner SJPP to launch a green financing programme for SMEs. By making green financing more accessible, we hope to encourage SMEs to adopt sustainable business practices. This will boost their ESG profile, especially if they are keen to participate and compete in the global value chain.”
Apart from U-Green Financing, UOB Malaysia is also a participating financial institution for Bank Negara Malaysia’s Low Carbon Transition Facility, as well as the High Technology and Green Facility.
Chen Yin Heng, Principal Officer of SJPP, said that the proposed collaboration is in line with the national goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
“SJPP, via its guarantee schemes, is committed to supporting the government’s effort to boost economic growth, especially within the SME sector. Many strategic initiatives and policies have been put in place with the aim to spur and develop business opportunities for this sector.

We hope that U-Green Financing will encourage more SMEs and the mid-sized corporates to start adopting ESG practices and reduce their carbon footprints. Additionally, we are also pleased that financial institutions like UOB Malaysia and organisations like MRANTI are taking the step forward and drawing on their synergistic strengths to further support this noble aspiration.”

Workshop series with MRANTI to offer insights into ESG best practices
The workshop series established with MRANTI will combine classroom teaching, workshops with real-life case studies, and practical coaching to offer participants insights into ESG best practices.
It covers topics such as Introduction to Sustainability for Businesses, ESG Materiality Identification, Green Technology Management, Waste Management, and Social Impact Strategy.
Upon completion, participants will receive a certificate from MRANTI including endorsements by its approved training partners.
This will enable the participants to apply their knowledge to advance their learning in other formal ESG courses.
Dzuleira Abu Bakar
Dzuleira Abu Bakar, Chief Executive Officer, MRANTI, said that the research accelerator is committed to raise ESG awareness among SMEs through workshops, roadshows and sustainability programmes.
“As MRANTI aims to be a one-stop centre for technology and innovation acceleration, we work with many ecosystem partners regardless of their stage of innovation or solution, and across the innovation readiness lifecycle.

The ESG workshop series developed with UOB Malaysia will help businesses, especially SMEs, gain the necessary market knowledge and insights, receive advice, connect with technology players, and obtain U-Green Financing to support their transition to sustainability.”
 Learn more about the U-Green Financing programme and MRANTI’s ESG workshops.

Featured image credit: Edited from Freepik

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Digital Transformation
Insurtech

Balancing Digital and Physical Channels in the New Era of Banking and Insurance

									by Fintech News Malaysia
September 19, 2022
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The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a spike in demand for digital banking experiences, a shift which banks and financial services institutions around the world have responded promptly to by accelerating product roadmaps and enabling new digital experiences.
But despite a clear surge in digital banking and transactions, industry stakeholders believe that customers still value the human connection in financial services, especially when it comes to more complex products.
During Fintech News Singapore’s latest Fintech Fireside Asia panel session, top executives representing Standard Chartered Bank, Tune Protect Group, Kenanga Investment Bank, and OneSpan Australia and New Zealand, discussed the digitalization of sales channels in the banking and financial services sector, highlighting emerging trends and sharing how they’ve successfully created human-digital blended experiences.

Ian W. Lloyd, Chief Digital Officer, Kenanga Investment Bank, said that although his company has been exploring opportunities in new markets and eagerly partnered with fintech companies to tap emerging business concepts, the bank has maintained a large network of agents and sales force which has been essential in reaching customers.
Ian W. Lloyd, Chief Digital Officer, Kenanga Investment Bank
“We have a mix [of sales coming from physical and digital channels]. A lot of it now is digitised and digitally-enabled and supported, so we have a very large agent and sales force, and they are supported by digital tools,” Ian said. “But we also have some very complex products. We are an investment bank and we cater to corporate clients and high net worth clients, and sometimes, they need that specialized touch and service.”
Echoing Ian, Tom Gardner, Executive Director, Head of Sales – Financing & Securities Services Hong Kong, Financial Markets, Standard Chartered Bank, argued that while digital tools and technology have undeniably unleashed a wave of opportunities and brought about benefits to his profession, the human touch will remain of relevance, especially when complex transactions and larger deals are involved.

“Sales is the oldest profession in the world and digitalization will continue to be a big part of that but won’t replace it,” Tom said. “The bigger the deal size gets, [the more] you need that human connectivity.”
Technology: an enabler rather than a silver bullet
The panelists were unanimous that the use of technology will continue to increase moving forward, mentioning opportunities related to increased efficiency, automation and improved customer experience.
Ian from Kenanga said the bank’s new robo-advisory and savings products, which it launched just in February, have already seen strong uptake, showcasing clear demand for affordable, fully digital experiences.
Targeting first-time investors and the mass market, the Kenanga Digital Investing (KDI) offering focuses on accessibility and affordability, applying low account minimums and affordable fees. KDI also moves away from long forms to simply requesting new customers to answer just three questions to get started.
Nigel Stewart, Managing Director of OneSpan Australia & New Zealand, said that providing a fast and seamless digital onboarding experience has become essential for financial institutions, noting that many effective digital tools and technologies were available on the market for remote document signing and identity verification.
Nigel Stewart, Managing Director of OneSpan
“Identity verification is something people are struggling with. What we are doing at OneSpan is that we are building that into the overall digital agreement process where it’s integrated natively into a transaction … That takes a lot of the friction out of the process and it’s something you think is quite unique in the industry,” Nigel said. “The second area where I see customers struggling with is static forms, PDFs … I think if those two technologies can be integrated, so identity verification and smart forms, in one complete format, it will go a long way to helping that whole digital-enabled [experience]”
Rohit Nambiar, Group Chief Executive Officer, Tune Protect Group, said that all of his company’s sales force relied on digital tools in some way.
A South East Asian digital first insurance firm, Tune Protect provides a range of general insurance solutions through multiple distribution channels. One key area the company has been focusing on is embedded insurance where the company partners with third parties like concierge services providers and car rental companies to offer its insurance products.
Rohit Nambiar, Group Chief Executive Officer, Tune Protect Group
Moving forward, Rohit believes that while physical insurance agents won’t be going away, their role will change significantly. “The way things are moving now in insurance… with agency 2.0 … I do believe that in the next five to ten years there will be far lesser number of agents in the industry but generating far more value than they did earlier,” Rohit said.
Automation technologies, such as machine learning and robotic process automation, have the potential to free up a lot of time for finance professionals, elevating their role by allowing them to focus less on transactional activities and more on analytics and insights. McKinsey estimates that about 50% of the overall time of the workforce in finance and insurance is devoted to collecting and processing data.
“There are massive opportunities [in improving the onboarding process],” Rohit said. “For the banking and financial services industry, it’s complex because unlike other industries, we are not talking to one database or one system. We have to check anti-money laundering (AML), sanctions, terrorism, blacklists, credit, etc. There’s a lot we can do in terms of how using data in the industry and simplifying onboarding. And it’s not just finance, it’s also health, background checks, and more.”

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Cloud
Digital Transformation
Sponsored

Migrating to a Cloud-Native Core Helps Banks Reduce Core Spend by 76% Over 5 Years

									by Fintech News Malaysia
September 29, 2022
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Across the globe, financial institutions are under increasing pressure to remain competitive in a rapidly changing financial services landscape.
Challenger banks and fintechs are leveraging modern technology stacks and agile operating models to innovate at speed and build modern, customer-centric financial solutions that consumers have come to expect.
Meanwhile, many incumbents remain in a holding pattern, running legacy core platforms which, apart from being expensive and time consuming to maintain, can seriously hamper their ability to remain competitive.
And it’s not only pressure from within the financial services industry causing sleepless nights for many incumbents; tech giants with seriously deep pockets are also eyeing the space with propositions that will continue to push customer expectations.
The business case for core migration – reduce cost base by 76%
Central to a bank’s tech operating model, core platforms are a major source of organisational spend.
Challengers have focused on next-generation cloud-native core platforms, which in the case of banks like OakNorth have reduced the cost base by 76% compared to traditional incumbents.
So, what’s the tipping point for core migration for financial institutions?
The risks of large-scale transformation projects, cost of transformation, and organisational inertia are barriers to core migration.
However, as negative consequences of legacy technology become more pronounced, the cost of doing nothing will overshadow the risks of migration.
According to an analysis by Celent and Mambu, banks globally may save up to US$246.1 billion running a cloud-native core over five years, a 76% reduction in core spend and 15% savings in total IT costs over the same period.
Modern, cloud-native core technology to replace traditional large-scale transformations
According to Celent, as the benefits of a cloud-native core becomes more apparent on a wider scale, the business case for a cloud core migration will become easier for banks to make.
Large transformation initiatives come with significant cost and risks, and have an extended timeframe before the ROI is seen, so banks would be wise to move away from these to a cloud-native approach.
With a cloud-native approach, the time to get a platform operational decreases substantially, and select stacks can be migrated over time, with the flexibility of the platform and resiliency of the cloud allowing banks to be more cost-effective.
Once operational, the recurring costs to maintain can drop by more than 80%, based on Mambu’s benchmark figures.

Cost benefits of a cloud-native core
The advantages of a cloud-native core are many. Below, Celent has identified some of the benefits of a cloud-native core over a legacy core:

Easier product or system changes – Mambu estimates around 85% reduction in time to launch new products on a cloud-native core.
Ecosystem integration and simplified architecture – simple and seamless integration with third parties via a cloud-native core.
Usage-based cost models for predictable spend – cloud-native core platform delivered on a per-use basis controls the spend and allows institutions to scale at their own pace.
Reduction in internal resources – Mambu estimates a 30-40% reduction in specialist skills required to maintain legacy platforms.
Reduced business risk – migrating to a cloud-native core significantly decreases the business risks associated with legacy technology, including outages and manual processes that hinder performance.

Mambu is the market leader in cloud-native core banking and lending technology. To explore the benefits of cloud-native banking platforms and gain a better understanding of the challenges incumbents face due to legacy technology, download the report from Mambu and Celent now.

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Blockchain/Bitcoin

Hong Leong Bank to Hold Physical Hackathon Focused on the Metaverse

									by Fintech News Malaysia
October 3, 2022
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Hong Leong Bank (HLB) is organising its “Can You Hack It” hackathon focused on re-imagining banking experiences through hyper-personalisation and the metaverse.
This fully physical hackathon will be open to Malaysian residents where participants who are interested in joining should form a three-member team and choose one problem statement to solve.
HLB said that participants are expected to create unique and personalised customer experiences that exploit the full potential of what the metaverse has to offer to drive increased customer engagement and stickiness.

The top forty teams who make it to the semi-finals will have the chance to work with and be mentored by senior executives from HLB, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology & Innovation (MRANTI), Malaysian Business Angel Network (MBAN), CRADLE, JomHack Malaysia and potentially other key players in Malaysia’s Metaverse space as well.
Selected finalists will have the opportunity to present their prototype to a panel of Hong Leong Bank senior executives as well as judges from the digital and fintech industries.
From a total of 10 finalist teams, the winner will receive RM10,000 cash along with a trophy and a winner’s certificate, followed by RM5,000 and RM2,500 for the first and second runners-up, respectively. There will also be a RM500 consolation prize given to the remaining seven teams.
Finally, there is also RM500 in the form of special awards for ten special categories of winners.
The bank added that promising individuals or teams may be offered career opportunities at HLB or be invited to co-develop their prototype into a minimum marketable product (MMP).
Applications are now open until 17 October 2022.
Shailesh Grover
Shailesh Grover, Chief Digital & Innovation Officer at Hong Leong Bank said,
“For the last few years, we have seen a lot of hype about the metaverse. As a result, there are more unknowns about its true potential, the relevant technologies and real customer value-creating use cases for the banking customer.

To dispel the myths and make sense of the new reality as it unfolds, we invite you to participate in this hackathon to collaboratively create innovative experiences in the metaverse for our customers – both individual and corporates”.

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Insurtech
Proptech

VSure Group Partners With PickTenants to Offer Insurance for Landlords

									by Fintech News Malaysia
October 6, 2022
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Malaysian digital insurer VSure Group has partnered with PickTenants, a proptech company offering a tenant-screening and management platform, to launch an embedded insurance solution for landlords.
The landlord insurance plans offered is only available on the PickTenants platform where they would be able to select coverage amounts starting at RM 0.55 per day.
Landlords will be able to choose from five affordable plans with coverage levels ranging from RM1,000 to RM5,000 as additional financial protection.

On the other hand, the tenants will also benefit from this offering as they would be paying lower security deposits.
Eddy Wong
“We are thrilled to partner with PickTenants to offer new ways to build trust and connect tenants and landlords simply and innovatively, seamlessly embedding protection within the onboarding process. Disputes and mutual mistrust between tenants and landlords are common, causing hassle and frustration for both parties.

Our collaboration with PickTenants provides the ideal solution, allowing tenants and landlords to communicate and conduct business securely. This partnership demonstrates our commitment to finding innovative solutions for our customer needs by curating the right insurance solutions and services.”
said Eddy Wong, Co-founder and CEO of VSure Group.
“We are honored to be collaborating with VSure to provide embedded insurance to all Malaysians.

The combination of VSure’s innovative and affordable landlord insurance product and our proprietary tenant screening technology and platform enables landlords to lease out their properties with confidence,”
said Fabian Kong, CEO and Founder of PickTenants.

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Insurtech

Digital Life Insurer DearTime Launches in Malaysia

									by Fintech News Malaysia
October 6, 2022
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Malaysian digital insurer DearTime has officially launched to offer affordable and accessible life insurance plans in the country.
The company is an approved participant of the Bank Negara Malaysia’s Fintech Regulatory Sandbox to conduct life insurance business in Malaysia.
DearTime has a fully digital business model which allows customers to buy, edit, and claim insurance directly from the company via its app.

On its mobile app, DearTime offers 5 insurance products for individual customers namely medical, critical illness, death, disability, and accident.
These are pure insurance products prioritised for protection only without add-ons such as savings and investments.
When a customer makes an insurance claim, DearTime liaises directly with panel hospitals while customers wait for the approved claim payout to be deposited into their respective bank accounts.
In order to claim insurance from DearTime, customers will need to perform a face scan in the app. Once verified, a unique claim code will be generated, which is to be presented to the panel hospital staff over the counter.
DearTime currently has about 300 hospitals as part of its panel and is available for download on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Jon Ng
“There is no better time to launch a digital life insurance company than now, as mobile and internet usage across all groups of Malaysians is at its highest.

With today’s wide connectivity across the nation, DearTime’s fully digital insurance solution is how we want to tackle the issue of low insurance penetration head-on,”
said Jon Ng, Founder and CEO of DearTime.

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Insurtech

PolicyStreet Appoints Former Carousell Head Tang Siew Wai as Chief Digital Officer

									by Fintech News Malaysia
October 12, 2022
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Insurtech platform PolicyStreet has appointed former Carousell Malaysia country head Tang Siew Wai as its new Chief Digital Officer to spearhead the company’s growth strategy.
Prior to joining PolicyStreet, Siew Wai established Carousell’s local office in Malaysia and helped make Carousell a preferred marketplace for second hand items in the country.
He was also the CEO of ModeFair, the Country Head (Malaysia & Middle East markets) for Reebonz, and the Regional Marketing Director at Huawei responsible for seven South Pacific countries.

Founded in 2016, PolicyStreet is an insurance platform that provides reinsurance, general insurance, and financial advisory services. Its partner insurance companies include CTOS and AirAsia Money.
The company previously raised a RM25 million Series A in 2021 and was approved by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to provide financial advisory services in 2019.

Lee Yen Ming
“ASEAN’s insurance penetration is at 3.5% of GDP and is about 60% of the global average, with protection gaps in life, health and disaster coverage.

To better serve the uninsured and underinsured, we’re looking to drive the digital overhaul of the traditional insurance sector. Understanding the need for expertise in this area, we’re proud to have Siew Wai onboard,”
said Lee Yen Ming, Chief Executive Officer of PolicyStreet.
Tang Siew Wai
“Yen Ming and I met during our stints in the telecommunications industry about 15 years ago, and I have been observing PolicyStreet since its inception.

As someone who has a passionate interest in disruptive tech, I was really impressed with its growth traction and how it has been helping SMEs and consumers bridge the protection gap in the market by innovating in the hard-to-crack insurance space,”
said Tang Siew Wai, Chief Digital Officer of PolicyStreet.

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Digital Transformation

Affin Bank Taps Aspire Systems to Bolster Its Digital Banking Journey

									by Fintech News Malaysia
October 13, 2022
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Affin Bank has partnered with global technology services firm Aspire Systems to lead its digital banking transformation journey.
Through this partnership, Aspire Systems will help Affin to achieve digital maturity quickly and become a truly digital bank with its experience in managing digital banking transformation programmes.
The bank said that its digital transformation programme will help to meet the changing expectations of its digital-savvy customers.

Affin had also chosen the Temenos Infinity Digital Banking Experience platform to help with its digital transformation.
Datuk Wan Razly Abdullah
“Affin Bank’s partnership with Aspire Systems is a continuation of our extensive growth strategy to morph into a forward-looking, tech-enabled and customer-centric organisation.

It will reinforce and complement the innovative products and services that we now have in place, as Affin Bank continues to meet the rapidly changing market’s needs and expectations as well as make the banking experience more convenient for our customers.”
said Datuk Wan Razly Abdullah, President and Group Chief Executive Officer of Affin Bank.

Suresh Ranganathan
“Affin Bank has conveyed a strong vision to use technology innovations to strengthen their business growth by reimagining the way they engage with their customers.

Leveraging the combined engineering expertise and an award-winning implementation center of excellence for Temenos Products at Aspire, Affin Bank will be able to build a dynamic and engaging mobile banking experience.”
said Suresh Ranganathan, Global Head of Banking and Financial Services, Aspire Systems.

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Payments

Instapay Partners With Mastercard Roll Out Prepaid Corporate Cards for SMEs

									by Fintech News Malaysia
October 19, 2022
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Payments firm Instapay Technologies announced the launch of the Glyd Prepaid Corporate Card for small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) in partnership with Mastercard.
Issued by Instapay, Glyd aims to help small businesses manage their expenses better, enabling them to save time and money.
With Glyd, SMEs will receive prepaid corporate cards, either physical or virtual, for their employees along with access to its expense management portal.

Businesses will be able to set their expense budgets, and define where, how, and how much each employee is authorised to spend.
The software provides real-time update on spends, leading to better control and visibility over company expenses, eliminating fraud and administrative overhead.
In September, Instapay had secured RM 21.5 million in Series A funding round which it said it would use to launch new innovative products and help accelerate its expansion plans.
Rajnish Kumar
Rajnish Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of Instapay Technologies said,
“We are delighted to power Glyd which will enable businesses to set their budgets and build expense policies into the Glyd Prepaid Corporate Card. This allows them to manage expenses and gain insights into their cash flow and prevent unauthorised spending before it happens.

And what’s more, through tie-ups with partner merchants, Glyd will enable customers to get substantial discounts on their purchases, giving customers more reason to use their Glyd Prepaid Corporate Card for their official purchases.”
Beena Pothen
Beena Pothen, Country Manager, Malaysia and Brunei, Mastercard said,
“Mastercard is delighted to partner with Glyd to launch a prepaid corporate card for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) enabling them to digitalise operations including managing expenditure and cash flow.

Digital payments have become a way of life for many people and businesses around the world since the onset of the pandemic.”

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Lending

Funding Societies Appoints M’sia Country Head, Wong Kah Meng Now Group COO

									by Fintech News Malaysia
October 20, 2022
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SME digital financing platform Funding Societies Malaysia announced that it has appointed Chai Kien Poon as Country Head of Malaysia.
In his new role, he will be responsible for managing day-to-day operations of Funding Societies in Malaysia, as well as driving its strategic business partnerships and initiatives.
Chai has been with Funding Societies for almost four years where he was heading the Strategic Projects and Operations division.

Prior to that, Chai was attached to the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC), where he has experience across multiple capital market segments and led industry wide thematic reviews.
Meanwhile, Wong Kah Meng, Co-founder of Funding Societies Malaysia will now assume a regional role as Group Chief Operating Officer where he will oversee the company’s businesses across Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.
Under Kah Meng’s leadership, Funding Societies Malaysia had launched in 2017, disbursing over RM1.4 billion spread across more than 17,000 financing deals. The platform maintains a current default rate of 2.3%.
Funding Societies Malaysia is one of the entities under the Funding Societies | Modalku group which also operates in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Earlier this year, Funding Societies raised US$294 million (RM1.23 billion) through its Series C+ fundraising.
It also announced a co-investment in Indonesia’s Bank Index as well as the acquisition of regional payments solution CardUp.
Chai Kien Poon
Chai said,
“I am honored by the trust and confidence of Kah Meng and the group’s management with this new role, and I look to continue the excellent work we have done so far.

We have built ourselves a strong foundation since our inception in Malaysia in 2017, and I am excited to forge the future with the team as we continue to expand our products and services and extend our reach in the SME fintech landscape.”
Wong Kah Meng
Wong Kah Meng, Group Chief Operating Officer of Funding Societies | Modalku said,
“It has been a privilege to co-found and lead Funding Societies Malaysia over the last six years. I am humbled by the talent and commitment of our team, and their passion for pioneering digital SME financing in Malaysia.

Kien Poon’s broad experience and strong track record complement the amazing team we have in Malaysia and his appointment will no doubt help us to accelerate our mission to further serve the underserved, creditworthy SMEs in the country.”

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Blockchain/Bitcoin
Payments

JCB, IDEMIA and Malaysia’s Soft Space to Trial CBDC Acceptance in Tokyo

									by Fintech News Malaysia
October 24, 2022
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Japan-based global payments brand JCB has launched a central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot project in partnership with French identity technologies company IDEMIA and Malaysian digital payments technology provder Soft Space.
The project, dubbed the JCB Digital Currency or JCBDC, involves developing a CBDC payment solution and conducting pilot tests with Tokyo merchants.
JCB aims to address merchant reluctance to accept CBDCs by enabling CBDC payments to be made using its existing contactless payment solutions, POS terminals and plastic card-based user interfaces.

The company says that the use of such solutions could be more appealing to payees who may not have smartphones or who could find more complicated user interfaces challenging, thus allowing for wider public use of CBDCs.
Soft Space and IDEMIA will assist JCB in the development of the payment system. The companies aim to conclude development by late 2022 and conduct pilot tests with Tokyo merchants until March 2023.
Koremitsu Sannomiya
“It gives me great honour to announce our collaboration with IDEMIA and Soft Space on this project. This project proves that we can use existing payment acceptance hardware for new CBDC payment systems, which is a huge benefit for both consumers and merchants,”
said Koremitsu Sannomiya, Board Member, Senior Executive Officer of JCB.
Joel Tay
“We’re thrilled to be first in the world to trial CBDC acceptance on SoftPOS alongside our partners JCB and IDEMIA. Although CBDCs are still in their infancy, this pilot takes us forward from theory to reality, by harnessing our in-store payment experience and existing payment platform expertise,”
said Joel Tay, CEO of Soft Space.

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Banking
Digital Transformation
Innovation
Lending

Traditional Banks Woo Malaysian SMEs With Digital Banking

									by Rebecca Oi
November 9, 2022
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The COVID pandemic has forever changed how businesses operate, from digitising operations, and remote working, to loan financings and banking digitally. While the impact of the pandemic has been felt across sectors of various sizes, Malaysian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have been hit the hardest, with sales, revenues, and profits taking a nose dive from the pre-COVID market situation.
Arguably the most significant shortfall for many SMEs is their inability to obtain loans from traditional banks to stay afloat and balance the books. Before the COVID pandemic, poor documentation and financial credibility have already denied most SMEs from getting loans.
Multiple lockdowns in the years 2020 and 2021 have, at certain times, brought economies to a complete halt, affecting SMEs and making their profiles less favourable, even resulting in some shutting down permanently.

Malaysian SMEs frustrated with traditional banks
SMEs have voiced their frustrations with traditional banks’ reluctance or inability to support them throughout these difficult times. Their feedback includes slow responses, limited access to credits, and minimal transparency regarding decisions and processes.
According to Fair, Isaac, and Company (FICO), there are signs that traditional banks in Malaysia are facing the possibility of losing SMEs to non-traditional competitors.
The California-based data analytics firm added nearly 60 percent of Malaysian SMEs are expected to take up alternative lending solutions rather than traditional ones, as they are pessimistic about getting support from the latter.
FICO Senior Director of Decision Management Solutions in the Asia Pacific Aashish Sharma stated that 1.15 million SMEs contribute 48 percent of the total workforce in Malaysia and produce over 38 percent of the gross domestic product.
This represents a massive opportunity for any financial entity, traditional or new innovations, to serve this segment.
image via Unsplash
Lending alternatives to Malaysian SMEs
In recent times, non-banking avenues such as venture capital (VC), equity crowdfunding (ECF), and peer-to-peer (P2P) lending have surfaced into the limelight, providing lending alternatives to SMEs and stiff competition to traditional lending institutions.
According to Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2022: An OECD Scoreboard, venture capital, and private equity have amassed a committed fund of RM11.70 billion at the end of the year 2020; contributors from government agencies, sovereign wealth funds, corporate investors, and other asset managers.
In the same year, 117 deals involved venture capital and private equity. The growth for equity crowdfunding in 2020 was a staggering 457 percent from 2019, from RM 22.92 million to RM 127.73 million. Peer-to-peer grew by 20 percent in 2020, from RM 418.64 million in 2019 to RM 503.31 million.
The strong presence of alternate funds lending and increasing risk of further losing more SMEs have forced traditional banks to turn to digital innovations to help improve consumer sentiment.
While most of the attention went to the five digital banking licenses awarded back in April 2022, what those partnerships and joint ventures would bring to the digital banking sector remains to be seen. So, what about those serving existing client databases?
Their subsequent adoptions and innovations to their products must be planned carefully and executed precisely to maintain their relevancy in the market.
According to an article by Andrew Gilder and Matt Cox, one recommended way traditional banks can adopt is to develop client-centric products with digital innovations that add value.
Malaysian banks offering SMEs solutions
Malayan Banking Berhad, which serves 20 million customers, offers solutions to help SMEs save costs in human resources and finance departments.
Maybank2u Biz allows SMEs to make bill payments, employee payroll, and payments to suppliers or business partners besides checking account balances and transferring funds locally and overseas.
Meanwhile, Hong Leong Bank (HLB) was recently awarded Best SME Bank in Malaysia for the fourth consecutive year, with their approach to “provide SME clients with simple and frictionless experiences by digitalising processes into automated journeys,” as quoted by Kevin Ng, HLB’s Head of SME Banking.
One solution HLB has provided clients is a fully digital onboarding experience that eliminates the need to visit a physical branch for simple tasks such as opening business accounts. Clients can do so just by visiting HLB’s web application.
HLB also launched Malaysia’s first biometric-based mobile eToken, offering convenience and added security for its online banking platform.
UOB Malaysia officially launched its own UOB SME app recently, allowing companies to conduct transactions, apply for loans, track cash flow, and track foreign currency alerts, amongst other features on the app.
 “The app provides SMEs with a real-time view and the convenience of managing their finances on the go. SMEs can now stay on top of their businesses and have better financial control while driving their growth strategies”, said Ng Wei Wei, CEO of UOB Malaysia,
The foreign currency alert is vital, especially for SMEs with regional offices. “The personalised currency watch list and alerts are useful tools to help SMEs manage their foreign currency risks, especially given the volatile currency environment,” said Managing Director and Country Head of Wholesale Banking Andy Cheah.
Shaping the digital banking industry
How traditional banks redefine themselves will shape the digital banking industry moving forward. For the five ventures awarded digital banking licenses to set motion their plans and specific solutions to SMEs, it will take significant time and adjustments.
 Traditional banks with data and behavioural analytics about their existing clients can use this to their advantage, capturing the market that once was theirs.
Demand for digital banking assistance and solutions will remain high as the world walks into a new norm, as long as it is client-focused, offers flexibility, and has a clear value proposition.

Featured image credit: edited from Unsplash

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Payments
Sponsored

Australia vs New Zealand Payment Tech & What’s New in 2023

									by Tal Weiser, Managing Director, Sales, APAC Payments, Finastra
November 1, 2022
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Australia and New Zealand. Two nations so alike, but in other ways so different; an antipodean version of the US and Canada, or England and Ireland.
Finance forms one of those key differences, but the differences seen now are likely to get smaller over time, as globalization continues unabated and the world takes an increasingly consistent and collaborative approach to money.
In this article we’ll specifically be comparing the Australian and Kiwi approaches to electronic payments. We’ll look at the current state of affairs, where things might be headed, and the trends that might drive this change.
Payment tech: Australia vs New Zealand
The difference between Australian and Kiwi payment tech can be summed up in a single (if hyphenated) word: real-time.
Real-time payments in Australia
In February 2018, after years of research and development, the Reserve Bank of Australia launched the New Payments Platform (NPP). The system enabled individuals and organizations to make simple payments that were made available to the recipient in near real-time, 24/7/365, and with far richer remittance data.
In 2021 the platform facilitated almost one billion real-time transactions, the simple, real-time nature of which resulted in user cost savings of US$205 million and helped unlock almost US$1 billion of additional economic output (equal to 0.06% of Australia’s GDP). By 2026 those figures are expected to rise to 2.4 billion transactions, US$628 million in savings and US$1.4 billion in economic output.
However, Australia was far from the first to employ a universal real-time payment platform, lagging years behind other developed countries, particularly in Western Europe. And this fact, combined with the overwhelmingly successful rollout of the NPP, makes New Zealand’s situation all the more surprising.
image via Unsplash
Real-time payments in New Zealand
Despite electronic payments constituting 59% of total payment volume in 2021, New Zealand still lacks a formal real-time payment scheme. The wheels, however, are beginning to turn.
In 2020, Payments NZ, a governance organisation at the heart of New Zealand’s payments system, released a discussion document that it called the Payments Modernisation Plan. It outlined real-time payments as a cornerstone of any future payment system and laid the groundwork for a strategic roadmap to develop such a system.
The upshot is that a New Zealand real-time payments platform is on its way, most likely in the next few years, although exactly when it will arrive and what it will look like is yet to be determined.
image via Unsplash
4 more ANZ payment trends for 2023
In truth, Australia and New Zealand share more commonalities than differences in their financial systems. Beyond the game of catch-up that New Zealand is currently playing in real-time payments, there are a number of other exciting trends and developments that will shape the future of payments in the region.
Mobile wallet capabilities
Granted, some mobile wallet capabilities demand the presence of underlying real-time payment systems, but others don’t. Google Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay were pioneers in the mobile wallet space, but as India in particular has shown in recent years, the judicious use of public funds can incentivise a wealth of organizations, from financial institutions to small start-ups, to innovate in the space.
image via Unsplash
The continued evolution of BNPL
The growth of Buy Now Pay Later services isn’t expected to slow any time soon. In fact, between now and 2030 the industry is expected to register an incredible compound annual growth rate of 26%. More and more services are entering the market, and they will have to find competitive advantage through innovation if they are to succeed.
Endless aisles
In a retail setting, one in 10 sales are lost because the item is out of stock. The joy of shopping online is that you are granted access to a retailer’s entire inventory. You’re far more likely to find your preferred colour, style or size online than you are if you visit an individual store… unless that store has ‘endless’ aisles.
Endless aisle technology injects the convenience and choice of ecommerce shopping into a brick and mortar store, by allowing customers to browse a brand’s entire range via an in-store terminal (usually an iPad) if what they’re looking for can’t be found on the shelf. This purchase can be made in a few clicks, and the goods can either be transferred from store to store, warehouse to store, or sent direct to the customer’s address.
Hyper-personalisation
As electronic payments increase, and the purchases they facilitate become increasingly data rich, there is a unique opportunity for businesses to use this information to craft hyper-personalised buying experiences. When a customer pays for an item it shows they want it and see the value in it. Where they make the purchase – online or in-store – and the method with which they pay – cash, card, mobile wallet, BNPL – add more data points that can lead to personalisation insights, which can be used to encourage future sales.

Featured image credit: Edited from Unsplash here and here and Freepik

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Insurtech

Tune Protect Gets Conditional Approval to Join BNM’s Regulatory Sandbox

									by Fintech News Malaysia
November 1, 2022
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Tune Protect Ventures, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tune Protect Group, has received conditional approval from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to participate in its Financial Technology Regulatory Sandbox.
The approval allows Tune Protect to test a digital life insurance business for the Malaysian market in the sandbox for a period of 12 months from the date of meeting certain conditions set out by BNM.
The sandbox environment will allow Tune Protect to innovate and offer a differentiated value proposition to the unserved and underserved communities affordable pure life and health protection.

Tune Protect aims to simplify the process of buying, self-service and claims for customers and is expected to introduce its first proposition in the coming weeks, upon meeting BNM conditions.
Rohit Nambiar
“18 months ago, we set in motion a plan to establish a bolt-on business that leverages the strong engagement we have with our Gen Z, millennial and SME customers.

As a Malaysia homegrown digital insurer, we believe we can target them with a digital-first approach on a sandbox mode, where one can buy all day-to-day retail insurance solutions, service or claim through an app or website,”
said Rohit Nambiar, Group Chief Executive Officer of Tune Protect.
Koot Chiew Ling
“Tune Protect Ventures is going back to the fundamentals of insurance focusing on pure life and health protection. Our first proposition will be for SMEs and their employees. Being a startup and new, we will also be bringing about new technology and end-to-end digitisation.”
said Koot Chiew Ling, Principal Officer of Tune Protect Ventures.

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Innovation
Insurtech
Payments

Two Malaysian Fintech Founders Win at SFF Global Fintech Awards

									by Rebecca Oi
November 7, 2022
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Two Malaysian fintech companies’ co-founders and CEOs received the ASEAN FinTech Leaders awards at the recent Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF) Global FinTech Awards 2022.
They were Eddy Wong Kok Hoe, Co-Founder, CEO, and Managing Director of VSure Group; and Salim Dhanani, Co-Founder and CEO of BigPay.
This is a momentous achievement for the Malaysian fintech scene, with Eddy and Salim taking home two of the four ASEAN FinTech Leader Awards.

VSure Group

VSure Group claims to be the country’s first insurtech company to have secured approval from Bank Negara Malaysia to introduce on-demand insurance and protection plans for the masses.
The company has developed a suite of products that help insurance companies to streamline their operations, improve customer service, and better manage risk.
In a bid to embrace the norm of digital-first and going paperless, the company’s protection plans are available exclusively on digital platforms via its website or the VSure mobile app.
The award is a testament to the company’s dedication to providing innovative solutions that help insurance companies meet the needs of modern customers.
BigPay

BigPay is a digital payments platform in Malaysia that offers a suite of financial services, including a mobile wallet, prepaid card, and remittance.
With BigPay, users can get a BigPay Card to make it easier to make payments both online and offline. The BigPay account also comes with other features, such as spending worldwide with the BigPay Card.
The company has been on a mission to make financial services more accessible and affordable for everyone.
The SFF Global Fintech Awards
The SFF Global FinTech Awards is a recognition of the outstanding fintech solutions that have the potential to transform the financial landscape and improve the lives of consumers and businesses.
The theme for this year’s SFF Global FinTech Awards was “Embracing Digital, Charting the New Normal,” whereby SFA received 223 submissions across all nine award categories, of which 48 finalists were shortlisted.
The winners were selected by a distinguished panel of judges comprising industry leaders, investors, and experts.
Sopnendu Mohanty
 “We are very encouraged by the innovative, cutting-edge solutions presented by the winners and finalists of this year’s Global FinTech Hackcelerator and FinTech Awards. The winning entries have demonstrated strong potential to tackle real-world problems while allowing the financial sector to harness the tremendous benefits of new technologies in their journey towards a greener digital future. Our heartiest congratulations to all the winners of the Global FinTech Awards,”
said Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer of MAS.
Malaysia charting new growth in the fintech sector
The Malaysian government supports the fintech industry and has introduced several initiatives to promote its growth. As a result, Malaysia’s number of fintech startups has increased significantly in recent years.
Malaysia has chartered new growth in the fintech sector and grew by 27 percent in 2021 to 294 fintech companies. Payments still dominate the industry, with 60 companies, followed by lending (55), e-wallets (43), and insurtech (31).
According to the Fintech in ASEAN 2021: Digital Takes Flight report by United Overseas Bank (UOB), fintech companies in Malaysia raised a record RM555.16 million (US$117 million) in funding, surpassing 2020’s total of RM365.37 million (US$77 million) by 52 percent in the first three quarters of 2021.
These SFF Global FinTech awards are a significant achievement for the Malaysian fintech industry, which clearly signifies that we are on the right track in our quest to become a leading fintech hub in Southeast Asia.

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E-Wallets
Payments

Euronet’s REN Payments Platform to Enable the TNG eWallet Visa Prepaid Card

									by Fintech News Malaysia
November 6, 2022
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Payments company Euronet has entered a strategic collaboration with TNG Digital to expand the use of its Touch ‘n Go eWallet that serves approximately 18 million users in Malaysia.
TNG Digital recently entered a partnership with Visa to develop a prepaid card solution which also leverages Euronet’s REN payments platform, and link each card to a user’s Touch ‘n Go eWallet.
The solution expands the reach of the Touch ‘n Go eWallet and allows its users to make payments to more than 80 million Visa merchants globally.

Designed to be cloud native, REN’s microservices based architecture uses modern design principles to deliver end-to-end digital payments experiences for users of the Touch ‘n Go eWallet.
Euronet’s REN platform provides key functionality for the project, including services for virtual and physical card management, data recovery and compliance, and payments platform with APIs.
Himanshu Pujara
“Through this partnership, TNG Digital is further enhancing its proposition by enabling consumers to access funds in their wallets for all forms of transactions including in-store, e-commerce and ATMs. We are confident that the Touch ‘n Go eWallet will soon become one of the largest card issuers in Malaysia,”
said Himanshu Pujara, Managing Director, Euronet Asia Pacific.
Alan Ni
“After an extensive RFP process, Euronet and the REN payments platform were awarded the project. We believe that Euronet has the capacity and commitment needed to support our vision to be Malaysia’s No. 1 e-payments provider,”
said Alan Ni, Chief Executive Officer, TNG Digital Sdn Bhd.

Featured image credit: edited from Unsplash

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Payments

Touch ‘n Go eWallet Can Now Be Used in Mainland China

									by Fintech News Malaysia
November 8, 2022
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Touch ‘n Go Group’s TNG Digital has collaborated with Ant Group’s Alipay+ to allow the Touch ‘n Go eWallet to be accepted for payments in Mainland China.
The announcement, which was first made at the Singapore Fintech Festival 2022, makes Touch ‘n Go eWallet the first Malaysian e-wallet with such cross-border capabilities.
Apart from Mainland China, Touch ‘n Go eWallet users can also make payments wherever the Alipay+ QR code is displayed in Japan, South Korea, Singapore, United Kingdom, Italy, France, and Germany.

Alipay also launched Alipay+ D-store, its digitalisation solution for the service industry, and announced that Alipay+’s merchant coverage has more than doubled to 2.5 million in the past year.
Alan Ni
“Touch ‘n Go eWallet is the first Malaysian eWallet which can be used for payments in Mainland China. This augurs well for all our users travelling there as they will enjoy the ease of making cashless payments, and in Ringgit Malaysia as well,”
said Alan Ni, Chief Executive Officer of TNG Digital.
Angel Zhao
“Through simple adaption, more than 2.5 million merchants around the world are able to access and better serve the growing user population of various leading digital payments providers, as digital transformation takes hold around the world,”
said Angel Zhao, President of International Business, Ant Group.

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