Payments

BigPay Rolls Out Cash Pickup Services in Indonesia and the Philippines

									by Fintech News Malaysia
June 21, 2022
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BigPay, a Capital A venture company, announced the launch of its Cash Pickup services in Indonesia and the Philippines, as an added feature to its existing remittance feature.
The Cash Pickup feature is available to all BigPay users in Malaysia and Singapore with over 14,000 pick-up locations across the Philippines and Indonesia.
BigPay said that it seeks to bridge the technology gap and help families gain access to their funds without the need for a bank account through this launch.

To send money via the BigPay app, senders simply need to select the amount to remit and the pickup location to send the funds securely.
The recipients in Indonesia and the Philippines can then head to the designated local pickup location within the specified timeframe, provide the unique PIN and a form of identification, and receive the cash.
In Indonesia, recipients can collect from any POS Indonesia location.
Cash Pickup is also available in the Philippines at any BDO Cash Pickup, M Lhuillier, Cebuana Lhuillier, Palawan Pawnshop, LBC Express, SM Counters, BPI, Metrobank, and RD Cash Padala Pawnshop locations.
Salim Dhanani
“At BigPay, we believe in a financially borderless world where everyone has equitable access to the products they need. As we expand our remittance pillar within BigPay, Cash Pickup services are a natural fit to further our mission.

Our users across the region can now send money in a few clicks to almost anywhere in the Philippines and across Indonesia – and this opens up the product to many more people,”
said Salim Dhanani, CEO and Co-founder of BigPay.

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Lending
Sponsored

Alternative Lenders Are on the Rise to Plug the Financing Gap for SMEs

									by Fintech News Malaysia
June 22, 2022
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In Singapore, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are struggling to secure sufficient financing from traditional lenders, with most still largely relying on their personal networks to support their business, findings from a new study by cloud banking startup Mambu show.
The Small Business, Big Growth report draws on results of a survey of 1,000+ SME owners globally who set up their company and applied for a business loan in the last five years.
The study, which sought to understand SMEs’ most pressing challenges, found that SMEs in Singapore face an uphill struggle when it comes to securing financing.
In the last five years, 86% of Singaporean SMEs surveyed indicated being unable to secure any or sufficient funding to cover the needs of their business, on at least one occasion, citing weak cash flow (36%), strenuous collateral requirements (34%), an arduous application process (29%), rigid lending criteria (29%) and rejection due to a lack of a business plan (29%), as their greatest barriers to funding.
Instead, SME owners are turning to their friends and family to help launch and support their business. In Singapore, funds from friends and family (39%), as well as personal funds (39%) were found to be the top funding sources, followed by funding from business partners (34%). Only 29% of respondents indicated having successfully secured financing from a traditional bank or building society.
Despite playing a major role in most economies, SMEs and micro enterprises have traditionally been ignored by big banks due to the lack of credit data and perceived risk.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) estimates that 65 million firms, or 40% of formal micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in developing countries, have an unmet financing need of US$5.2 trillion every year, which is equivalent to 1.4 times the current level of the global MSME lending. East Asia and Pacific accounts for the largest share (46%) of the total global MSME finance gap.
The rise of alternative lenders
To address SMEs’ unmet finance needs, alternative lenders and new fintech players have entered the market over the past couple of years, leveraging data and technological advances to create new ways of credit assessment and plug the gap.
In Southeast Asia, Funding Societies operates one of the region’s largest SME digital financing and debt investment platforms, recording more than S$3.37 billion in loan amount funded across Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Funding Societies specializes in short-term financing for SMEs, funded by individuals and institutional investors.
Validus is another major Singaporean digital lender, providing a SME financing platform for small businesses and accredited investors. Using data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), Validus focuses on underserved SMEs in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, and has funded S$2 billion worth of loans so far.
In Indonesia, SME finance platform KoinWorks assists e-commerce vendors, social commerce sellers and freelancers in starting and growing their businesses. The startup provides a variety of products for them to access loans and increase productivity, including incorporated SME neobanking services, working capital, factoring, early wage access (EWA) and fund management. KoinWorks claims 1.5 million customers.
Data from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) show that the SME alternative financing industry has maintained its dynamism these past couple of years, despite a significant drop between 2017 and 2018 due to the crackdown on the alternative finance sector in China.
Alternative Finance Volumes Attributed to Business Fundraisers, 2015-2020 USD, Source: The 2nd Global Alternative Finance Market Benchmarking Report, Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance
These new players are putting increasing pressure on incumbents who are struggling to address changing customer behaviors and expectations around speed, efficiency and digital experience.
Almost all of the SMEs polled my Mambu in Singapore (97%) said they would consider switching lenders if a competitor offered a better or improved offering. Among the top three reasons for switching lenders, Singaporean SMEs cited better digital services (47%), better borrowing benefits and incentives (43%) and better in-store services (40%).
In the application process, Singaporean SMEs said they were most interested in automatic credit review and collection (86%), faster loan decision processing (81%), tailored offers and services (80%), more flexible loan conditions (80%), and low or no collateral requirements for loans (80%).
Read the full report Small businesses, big growth here:

Featured image credit: Edited from Unsplah

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Crowdfunding
Islamic Fintech

Ethis and Gobi Partners to Set Up Shariah-Compliant US$20 Million Seed Fund

									by Fintech News Malaysia
June 23, 2022
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Ethis Group, an ethical investment and social finance platform operator, is collaborating with venture capital firm Gobi Partners to structure and set up a US$20 million Shariah-compliant seed fund.
The fund, which is targeted to have its first closing by the end of this year, is Ethis Group’s first move into the venture fund space as well as Gobi Partners’ first-ever fully Shariah-compliant fund.
Once launched, the joint fund will invest in Shariah-compliant startups globally with an initial geographic focus in the MENA as well as the ASEAN regions.

The fund will also focus on the broader ethical investment agenda with emphasis on Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) and sustainable investments that also stretch beyond the Muslim community.
This collaboration combines the venture guiding acumen of Gobi Partners which currently has US$1.5 billion of assets under management across North Asia, South Asia and ASEAN, with Ethis Group’s growing group of fintech investment and crowdfunding platforms in Indonesia, Malaysia and most recently Oman.
Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, Gobi has raised 15 funds to date, invested in over 320 startups and nurtured nine unicorns.
In 2016, Gobi launched its TaqwaTech vertical which focuses on investments in Islamic ventures and the global Muslim economy.
Mohamed Shehzad Bin Mohamed Islam
“The establishment of this joint fund will allow us to channel investments into tech startups driving change and making an impact.

Venture capital is in high demand and suitable for ethical investment,”
said Mohamed Shehzad Bin Mohamed Islam, Chief Executive Officer of Ethis Investment Platform LLC (EIP).
Thomas Tsao
“Muslim consumers represent a US$2.2 trillion market opportunity, and the Muslim community is anticipated to make up more than 31% of the world’s population by 2060, however, the Muslim community’s digital needs are largely unmet or underserved.

Through this partnership with Ethis and the creation of this dedicated fund, we will now be able to fund, nurture and support even more Muslim entrepreneurs,”
said Thomas Tsao, Co-founder of Gobi.

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Payments

ACI Identifies Malaysia as The World’s Top 5 Fastest Growing Real Time Payments Market

									by Fintech News Malaysia
June 28, 2022
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Malaysia has emerged as one of the most sophisticated real-time markets in the world, according to the third edition of the “Prime-Time for Real Time 2022” report.
The report was published by ACI Worldwide, in partnership with GlobalData, a data and analytics company, and the Center for Economics and Business Research (Cebr).
According to the report, Malaysia’s real-time payments journey has been fast, distinctive, and sophisticated.

It encompasses speedy adoption built on low-value transactions, rapid evolution towards more sophisticated and value-added services, and a government focused on driving adoption.
Much of the country’s success comes from a concerted effort by the government, central bank, national switch, and industry to modernise the country’s real-time payments infrastructure and harmonise the nation’s payments structure.

The report – tracking real-time payments volumes and growth across 53 countries – includes an economic impact study for the first time, providing a comprehensive view of the economic benefits of real-time payments for consumers, businesses, and the broader economy across 30 countries. The report covers all G20 nations, excluding Russia.
Malaysia emerged as the 5th fastest-growing real-time market, globally, with a CAGR of 26.9%.
Key highlights in Malaysia’s real-time payments landscape

Malaysia had recorded 1.1 billion real-time payments transactions in 2021, facilitating an estimated US$434 million cost savings for businesses and consumers, and unlocking US$364 million of additional economic output, equivalent to 1.11% of GDP.
According to the report, Malaysia is exceptional in the speed with which it has implemented nationwide real-time payments, and its rapid adoption by banks and non-bank participants
Malaysia’s real-time journey began in December 2018, with the arrival of a new real-time payments system, DuitNow, introduced by national payments network and central infrastructure provider, PayNet.
The new, modernised system, built on the latest interoperable, global, and open payments messaging standard, ISO 20022 expanded basic real-time low value account transfers to include transfers via mobile phones and ID numbers.
It also supported online payments, in store QR code-based payments, future-dated and recurring payments, and real-time cross-border payments with ASEAN.
Recent innovations have included consent management platforms for real-time debits, ‘DuitNow Request’. Future services include Know Your Customer (KYC) digital ID compatibility.
The report forecasts, increasing consumer awareness, a growing preference for mobile payments, and the abundance of DuitNow services and features, will result in real-time payments volume growth of CAGR of 26.9% from 2021-2026
Chee Cheng Ong
“Malaysia is the perfect example for other ASEAN countries on how to establish, align, and drive adoption of a modern real-time payments network.

By opting to form its real-time network on ISO 20022, it is rapidly becoming one of the most harmonized and sophisticated real-time payment environments in the world – and a perfect launchpad to accelerate adoption as well as provide a host of new and value-added services.”
said Chee Cheng Ong, VP and Head of ASEAN, ACI Worldwide.

Leslie Choo
“Asia-Pacific remains at the forefront of real-time payments innovation as its real-time base pivots towards larger volume transactions and more sophisticated services for our businesses and consumers.

The next stage of evolution for the region is to develop linkages to provide a truly pan-regional real-time infrastructure, unlocking much greater economic benefit and opening up the formal financial sector to the region’s vast unbanked and underbanked population.”
said Leslie Choo, Managing Director of Asia-Pacific, ACI Worldwide.

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Blockchain/Bitcoin

Luno Will Be Available in Malay With More Localised Educational Content

									by Fintech News Malaysia
June 28, 2022
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Luno, a licensed digital asset exchange,  will be available in the Malay language and roll out more localised content to support Malaysians on their crypto learning journey.
This is a part of its latest campaign ‘Move with Luno’ which aims to empower Malaysians to build their understanding of digital assets and investing as part of financial literacy, and will use education to dispel common misconceptions around cryptocurrencies.
To showcase the campaign, Luno has appointed national athletes Pandelela Rinong (Olympic diver) and Mohamad Zaquan Adha (professional footballer) as its brand ambassadors.

The athletes will spearhead ‘Move with Luno’, sharing their personal finance journeys, and how they have incorporated Luno into their investment plans.
Following the campaign launch, Luno will progressively roll out more educational initiatives to engage and educate more Malaysians.
The campaign will run across various offline and online touch points including on-ground educational tours to promote understanding of digital assets and investing, localised Luno Academy online learning courses on cryptocurrencies, and more.
Last week, Luno also expanded its investment options to seven approved digital assets by offering two new tokens – Chainlink (LINK) and Uniswap (UNI) on its platform.
According to Luno, Malaysians have already traded more than RM 7 million worth of these new digital assets over the past few days.
David Low
David Low, APAC General Manager of Luno said,
“We are incredibly proud of our ‘Move with Luno’ campaign which empowers Malaysians to improve their personal finances through improved education and understanding of digital assets.

To date, we have over 700,000 customers in Malaysia and we are committed to continue providing more Malaysians with the resources to meet their financial goals through investing in digital assets safely and securely with Luno.”

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Payments
Sponsored

Payment Managers Are Redefining Their Strategic Priorities for 2022

									by Andrew Burlison, Global Head of Payments, LexisNexis Risk Solutions
July 18, 2022
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It is evident that digital acceleration is creating a new payments paradigm as corporate non-cash payments are forecasted to reach US$200 billion transactions by 2025.
Shifting global payments priorities are placing new pressures on payments operations. Payments executives are facing increasing expectations to transition their departments from cost centers to creators of enterprise value.
What strategic considerations can help businesses meet digital economy demands and maximise end-to-end payments efficiency?
A recent study from LexisNexis Risk® Solutions and Capgemini Invent explores the evolution of corporate payments with insights from 400 managers and executives working with corporate payments.
The global study outlines current corporate payments trends and highlights how businesses are navigating digital payments challenges and setting strategic priorities.
The 2022 research provides a global viewpoint garnered from 42% of respondents representing EMEA, 34% representing APAC and 24% from North America.
This article details key research insights and considerations for refining your strategy to reflect today’s new payments paradigm.
Significant corporate digital payments growth starts delivering measurable advantages

Corporate non-cash payments represented around 133 billion transactions in 2021, totaling 13% of all non-cash payments.
The impact of digital acceleration and efforts to standardise international payments are contributing to rapid adoption of corporate digital payments.
Study findings illustrate the prevalence of account-to-account payments (A2A) as a preferred corporate choice:

54% of both accounts payables and accounts receivables are handled via A2A solutions globally
North America and Europe each account for 1/3 of worldwide corporate non-cash payments volume
APAC represents 19% of worldwide corporate non-cash payments volume

While A2A payments market maturity varies by region and country, multinational businesses utilising A2A payments are realising clear performance advantages.
Higher levels of automation and standardisation help improve end-to-end payments efficiency. The top three A2A payments benefits cited by respondents include higher security (76%), lower failure rate (64%) and reduced costs (50%)

Corporations are focusing on optimising the efficiency gains A2A payments deliver by effectively managing some of the lingering operational challenges impacting payments costs and complexity.
Study respondents point to three top A2A payments issues; data verification (52%); lack of cross-border interoperability (73%); and lack of interoperability with clients (73%).
Businesses are addressing these ongoing challenges by adding more advanced middleware solutions and automatic data verification tools into payments workflows and concentrating on improving standardisation among vendors and clients.
Performance expectations move beyond effective payments execution
Digital acceleration is influencing expectations for customer and supplier payments experiences that prioritise speed, accuracy and agility at every touchpoint.
Increased levels of automation are enabling payment managers to focus more on payment strategy and business development and the strategic priorities emerging from our study reflect this shift – 60% of corporates rate digital transformation as a key priority going forward.
Top priorities for payments managers in 2022 include defining their payments strategy (72%), improving overall business performance (46%) and optimising costs (40%).

Thierry Morin
Thierry Morin, Head of Payments, Capgemini Invent said,
“While corporates have historically been primarily searching for simplicity and cost efficiency, they are now looking at more advanced and valued-added payment solutions, fostered by the rapid development of new technologies and the necessity to go fully digital during the pandemic.”
Morin outlines how this expanded focus is defining strategic payments priorities for 2022 and beyond,
“Best-in-class corporates are already fully embracing new digital payment ecosystems leveraging cloud payment platforms, real-time data management and end-to-end integration, increasing the gap with the rest of the market. In that context, the race is on in 2022 for payment executives to prioritize the right investments and set up a forward-looking payments platform, addressing the on-going market developments and evolving vendor/client expectations.”
Payments automation is opening opportunities to optimise end-to-end payments efficiency, improve payments experiences for customers and suppliers and capture greater cost and operational synergies.
This study outlines how multinational businesses are expanding payments priorities to position their payments operations to contribute more value at the enterprise level.
Get the LexisNexis Risk® Solutions Corporate Digital Payments Study here.

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Insurtech

How Will BNM’s Digital Insurance License Tackle Malaysia’s Underinsured Problem

									by Fintech News Malaysia
July 5, 2022
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Insurance is a crucial part of any good financial planning. Without sufficient protection offered by insurers, it is easy to fall into financial ruin if even a person’s savings are substantial.
Malaysia’s insurance and takaful penetration rates however are dismally low with only 54% of Malaysians having any form of insurance coverage. This is especially overrepresented in the lower-income populations.
According to a paper by the central bank, BNM, there are a few reasons for this. Core ones include low productivity and the limited geographical reach of the agency network, in addition to the focus of bancassurance channels on products targeted at affluent customers.

In 2018, two more factors were identified – the first is that the industry focuses on products with savings and investment elements that are complex and unaffordable. Secondly, there is a proliferation of products packaged with add-on benefits that may not provide meaningful protection.
In short, insurance and takaful products here are unaffordable, inaccessible, and riddled with unnecessary “benefits”.
Malaysia has also been plagued with flash floods during the monsoon season for the past decade, as a result of climate change.
In recent years, it has only gotten worse, with the flash floods of end-2021 resulting in deaths and destruction of property and vehicles amounting to US$1.4 billion.
All these in tandem, have made the need for insurance all the more necessary for individuals across all life stages.
Meeting the needs of the lower-income
Earlier this year, the central bank of Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), issued a discussion paper on a Licensing Framework for Digital Insurers and Takaful Operators (DITOs).
The framework aims to license new DITOs to encourage digital innovation in the insurance and takaful sectors, and to better meet the needs of the under and uninsured in the country.
Tune Protect’s Rohit Chandrasekharan Nambiar, Group Chief Executive Officer, hopes that BNM’s focus on financial inclusion via its digital insurance license will see more insurers reach out to the underserved markets, and open new insurance and takaful market segments.
Rohit Nambiar
“With the framework, we also foresee that new-age insurance players will take the opportunity to up their game by adopting new technologies in the market. Affordability, ease, and convenience in the purchase, claims and servicing journey can be made possible through digital, and this, in turn, will encourage consumers to subscribe to insurance.”
The Malaysian insurance industry is already competitive with over 20 insurers, just in the general insurance space, says Rohit. However, he feels that the industry has not been able to significantly boost insurance penetration, especially beyond compulsory insurance.
He posits that it is very important for new players to open new markets rather than purely competing in the same space, and to help address the low insurance literacy rates.
Challenges in the digital insurance space
The financial service sector generally has a high barrier of entry, says Sue Wan Wong, Partner, Corporate, Commercial and Securities practice, Wong & Partners, member firm of Baker McKenzie International.
Sue Wan Wong
“Incumbents have the advantages of holding a license or approval through a presence that has been built over a long period of time, and often times with shareholders that can support its growth and operations. There is also a deep bench strength within these organisations.”
Wong went on to add that insurtechs have a lot to address – fundraising; talent pool; growth plans (and profitability), and regulatory compliance, among others: “Obtaining the requisite license, approval or registration requires the insurtech to check all these boxes; and it is not a sequential process.”
She opines that even a mature insurtech will find it a challenge to have all the requirements met immediately upon approval being given to commence operations as a digital insurer/takaful operator.
With that said, the ability to gain a footing in the market through the foundational phase is welcome as it provides incumbents with the assurance that the playing field will be leveled when the DITO space has “matured”.
This approach, says Wong, is consistent with the digital bank licenses and “not dissimilar” from the approach used for digital banking in Singapore.
On the other hand, Rohit opined that “the talent pool is stretched in the market” – existing insurers are competing for the same resource, and bemoaned the dearth of talents in Malaysia in the areas of digital, data, cybersecurity, governance, and valuation actuaries, which he feels may result in a delay in achieving the overall objectives of the framework.
“BNM needs to ensure they are able to fast-track approval for the adoption of new technologies and operational models for existing players, to ensure a level playing field.
“This would benefit both DITOs and existing players as the outsourcing and cloud engagement processes are tedious, and would impede the speed at which new tech and products can be rolled out to the public”, he added.
The insurtech space
According to Rohit, there are two types of insurtechs in the market – one comprises tech providers providing services such as automated billing, claims, underwriting, and distribution services, among others.
The other type of insurtech comprises traditional insurers, who are often plagued by legacy issues and which are “heavily driven by the traditional agency model”.
“While most insurers are allocating funds to invest in insurtech now, most are still taking small, incremental steps. They tend to focus on customer experiences such as self-service options, mobile apps to purchase and claim directly, rewards platforms embedded into consumer’s lifestyles, and internal operations such as RPA, AI, Chatbots, and IoT.”, he shared.
Insurtechs in ASEAN
Nevertheless, we’re seeing an increase in insurtechs and their investors in the Asia Pacific.
Last year, S&P Global Market Intelligence reported at least 335 private insurtechs operating in the region, with about 122 of them disclosing US$3.66 billion in aggregate capital raised via private placement deals. Of these, 18%, or, 67 insurtechs, were operating in ASEAN.
According to Rohit, ASEAN presents a massive growth potential because of the low insurance penetration rate (1%-3%), and a growing middle class that’s digitally savvy and increasingly health-conscious.
Rohit feels that overall, Malaysia is still lagging in this area as compared to its global counterparts:
“The opportunities are aplenty for digital insurers and insurtech players to address the gaps by offering affordable products, improving product accessibility by leveraging digital, and easing the complexity of products for customers to better understand what they are signing up for. Malaysia is also advantageous for investors due to its cost arbitrage, location connectivity, and the availability of talent.”
Rohit’s advice is not dissimilar to what some market research houses say.
For one, EY advises that players increase digitalisation, and seek to offer personalised services. Players should also approach product offerings in a simple, flexible manner with subscription models too.
Bain, on the other hand, has found that amidst the backdrop of the diversity of the Asia Pacific, insurers that prosper will venture into markets that align with their core strengths. It stresses the importance of digital distributions, ecosystems, and better customer experiences, in line with the digitalisation trends in SEA.
How will the proposed framework benefit Malaysians?
Rohit shared that the framework will allow industry players to become more competitive by introducing more innovative insurance solutions for the rakyat by offering more affordable, accessible, and easier-to-understand products and services that are “bite-sized” and hyper-personalised for the underserved segments of the market.
Although Malaysians are more aware of the need for insurance because of natural disasters and the pandemic, strangely, this has not translated to an increase in insurance penetration rate.
However, he has hope that there would be a higher uptake when more players are in the market. This is because more competition would come with more awareness and spending as providers would naturally roll out more marketing and promotional campaigns that come with educational aspects to woo the underserved segments, primarily those from the bottom 40% (B40) of the population.
In fact, according to Rohit, Tune Protect itself is “more than ready to serve the rakyat” with its own set of offerings planned for this segment.
“We need to start somewhere, and the framework can be a good starting point for us as industry players, and for the rakyat too.”

Featured image credit: Edited from Unsplash

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Cloud
Digital Transformation

RHB Enhances Its API-Driven Digital Platform With More Offerings for SMEs

									by Fintech News Malaysia
July 5, 2022
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RHB Banking Group has further enhanced its RHB REFLEX Premium Plus digital platform driven by an Application Programming Interface (API) integration with selected partners, to provide accounting and human resource (HR) solutions for its SME customers.
RHB Reflex Premium Plus is a cloud-based platform to help SMEs juggle all aspects of their business operations via an all-in-one online banking ecosystem.
The enhanced version of the digital platform brings forward an integration that offers more options for accounting and payroll connectivity, as well as provide a more holistic ecosystem proposition for business owners.

Through this API integration of accounting and HR solutions, RHB’s SME customers are able to seamlessly automate payroll and other accounting functions, such as viewing their banking account balances, preparing invoice and salary payments, directly via the partner’s platform without having the need to go on different channels.
On top of that, customers can retrieve essential information via an all-in-one financial dashboard as well as automating bank reconciliation and retrieving on-demand or periodical bank account statements.
Chung Chee Kai
“At RHB, we are focused on delivering market-leading and seamless customer experience that holistically addresses our customer’s business needs.

RHB REFLEX Premium Plus addresses the increasingly sophisticated needs of our SME customers and today, more than 2,000 of our SME customers are already using this facility. We target to on-board a total of more than 15,000 SME customers to this enhanced digital platform by 2025,”
said Chung Chee Kai, Head of Group Transaction Banking of RHB Banking Group.

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Payments

GHL Rolls Out QR Payments Through LINE Messaging App in Thailand

									by Fintech News Malaysia
July 12, 2022
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Payment service company GHL Systems (GHL) has launched the “GHL QR Payment”, an all-in-one QR code payment channel in Thailand for merchants to easily receive payment.
This combines multiple QR code and e-wallet providers on a single payment platform which is available through the popular messaging app LINE.
The offering was developed on the LINE official account as an alternative for merchants to receive secure QR payments based on the EMVco standard QR code.

GHL said that it is expecting this to cascade into a full range of businesses ranging from big corporations and retail businesses to MSMEs and gig workers.
The GHL QR Payment via LINE is a cost-effective mobile payment solution which does not require a physical EDC terminal and its associated costs.
With the GHL QR Payment, merchants will be able to verify transactions, cancel error transactions and view historical reports.
GHL will also be able to provide merchants with multiple branches to accept payments through a single account with multiple locations and devices.
Prinya Jinantuya
Prinya Jinantuya, Chief Executive Officer of GHL Thailand said,
“The launch of GHL QR Payment is the first in Thailand that QR payment service is available through the LINE Official Account.

The growing usage  of cashless payments is evident in Thailand, further demonstrated by the government’s increasing efforts in this area, such as the rollout of the National e-Payment project that aims to reduce the use of physical cash within the country.”

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Digital Transformation
Sponsored

Digital Transformation: Ditching the “Build vs. Buy” Mentality for a Hybrid Approach

									by Fintech News Malaysia
July 22, 2022
0 comments

Banks embarking on a digital transformation journey face the tough dilemma of having to choose between building platform components in-house or buying them.
But instead of these two historically binary options, there is a third alternative that combines the best of both worlds: the accelerated build, a new paper by engagement banking platform provider Backbase, says.
The whitepaper, titled Accelerated build: Bridging the build vs. buy gap, introduces the concept of accelerated build, an approach that provides banks with both a quick time-to-market and high degree of customisability.
According to the paper, while building in-house gives financial institutions full control of the required capabilities and a high degree of customisation, allowing them to create innovative, custom-made solutions and potentially stand out from competitors, it is also very costly and time consuming.
Backbase estimates that the total cost of ownership for a basic banking offering built in-house ranges between US$1.2 million to US$1.6 million annually.
Total cost of ownership for basic features – build, Source: Backbase
The buy option, on the other hand, allows banks to leverage the resources of best-in-class partners and benefit from a faster time-to-market, as well as a more predictable budget.
However, the approach also comes with a number of shortcomings, including the inability to create deeply customised customer experiences, origination/ distribution features, and business functions, such as sales and management.
Critics often claim that bought solutions are cookie-cutter experiences that fail to provide clients with the differentiating elements that make banks stand out from the pack.
The accelerated build approach
Considering these two approaches’ advantages and weaknesses, Backbase argues that the best solution might be by embracing a hybrid strategy and adopting what it calls the accelerated build.
Essentially, the accelerated build involves buying a vendor platform first and then customising it later.
This approach offers the best results by taking the best parts of the build and buy options and creating a hybrid that gives banks speed, flexibility, and customisability, all while minimising risk and cost, it says.
Buying an out-of-the-box offering first provides banks with a strong foundational backbone and accelerates the initial release.
Banks aren’t tech providers and should consider buying some components of their stack off the shelf and outsourcing commodity capabilities to relevant providers that can do it better, Backbase says, focusing instead on value-added activities and products.
When the delivery model grows and the bank has learnt more about its customers, the bank can then start tailoring these solutions to fit its specific needs and extend the options that are missing from the original provider’s solution.
At the end of the whole process, the bank gets a platform with a fully realised, end-to-end value proposition, gained a faster time-to-market and lowered its costs.
Backbase shares the following recommendation of which components it believes banks should buy and build:
What should banks build and buy, Source: Backbase
A six-dimensional framework approach
To help banks figure out which approach is best for them, Backbase proposes a six-dimensional framework to thoroughly assess an organisation’s objectives and capabilities to determine the most appropriate implementation option:

The first dimension, Strategic Advantage, covers the bank’s reasoning behind creating a new engagement platform, as well as its digital vision and articulation with its maturity;
The Criticality to Business dimension focuses on assessing the engagement banking platform’s creation as a business imperative while identifying critical processes and risks associated with implementation;
The third dimension, Partnership Capacity, aims to understand the bank’s ecosystem, ability to manage partnerships and the marketplace, and aptitude to foster innovation;
The Delivery Model and Capabilities dimension looks at the bank’s internal capabilities to understand the organisation, the skill depth, and the learning curve;
Technology Complexity involves considerations of the backbone of the engagement banking vision across all viewpoints, including requirements, technologies, architecture, tooling, integration, and the implementation ecosystem;
Finally, Cost Advantage involves assessing the total cost of the effort, encompassing the ecosystem setup, as well as the implementation and outgoing costs of creating the engagement banking platform.

Featured image credit: Edited from Freepik

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Lending

Malaysia’s Silverlake Axis Partners Finastra to Bolster Its Trade Finance Solutions

									by Fintech News Malaysia
July 14, 2022
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Silverlake Axis, an ASEAN core banking solutions provider headquartered in Malaysia, announced that it has entered into an agreement with Finastra, a global provider of financial software applications and marketplaces.
Under the deal, Silverlake will be able to offer Finastra’s trade finance solutions – including Fusion Trade Innovation and Fusion Corporate Channels – to customers in ASEAN in addition to its extensive line of universal banking offerings.
Branded as ‘Silverlake Vision Trade Finance’, the collaboration aims to provide an end-to-end suite of solutions that can underpin the operations of corporate banks seeking to tap into the intra- and extra-ASEAN trade network.

Silverlake Vision Trade Finance is a unified trade finance platform designed to streamline and automate cross-border transactions, cash management, lending, and treasury services.
Where prevailing, inefficient manual processes would take days to complete, the solutions behind Silverlake Vision Trade Finance are said to be able to accomplish equivalent tasks in several hours.
Through the support of Silverlake’s and Finastra’s team of subject-matter experts, clients are now able to strengthen their trade finance transformation roadmaps with globally accredited consulting know-how, spanning from product conceptualisation to project management, implementation, and testing.
Andrew Tan
Andrew Tan, Group Managing Director of Silverlake Axis said,
“From the onset, we recognized that our partnership with Finastra needed to be an impactful one to our customers and prospects alike.

Combining Silverlake’s deep understanding of complex technical solutioning with Finastra’s expertise in trade finance helps us create cutting-edge, relevant solutions for our clients to grow, transform, and compete in the post-pandemic world.”
Eric Duffaut
Eric Duffaut, President and Global Head of Customer Relations of Finastra said,
“Coming together with Silverlake creates a unique opportunity to deliver world class front-to-back working capital finance solutions across ASEAN.

Silverlake and Finastra’s respective strengths complement each other in a way that will enable us to reach even more financial institutions in the region, helping to accelerate digital transformation, fuel their growth and drive competitiveness.”

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Payments

Indonesia’s DOKU Acquires senangPay in US$7.5 Million Deal

									by Fintech News Malaysia
July 14, 2022
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DOKU, an Indonesian electronic payment solutions provider, announced that it has acquired Malaysian online payment gateway senangPay for US$7.5 million by raising the funds needed from Apis Growth Fund II.
The acquisition of senangPay marks the beginning of DOKU’s expansion overseas and its efforts to reach a wider business segment especially SMEs.
Through DOKU’s acquisition, senangPay is planning to strengthen and expand services beyond online payment gateway, adopting new services such as e-wallet, remittance, and offline transaction such as Tap On Glass, M2M (mobile to mobile) and more.

With these new offerings, senangPay said that it will enable the transition of its merchants from brick-and-mortar models into the digital era, in line with the Malaysian government’s “Malaysia Digital” initiative.
Established in 2015, senangPay is managed by Simplepay Gateway Sdn Bhd and registered with Bank Negara Malaysia as a Merchant Acquiring Services provider.
senangPay is also registered with Mastercard International as a Payment Facilitator (PF) for the Asia Pacific region.
As an online payment gateway, senangPay helps Malaysian businesses easily accept customer payments through a range of methods which includes credit card, debit card, internet banking (FPX) and all majors e-wallet providers in Malaysia.
Today, senangPay is said to have served over 15,000 merchants with a team of more than 45 people.
Nabilah Alsagoff
Nabilah Alsagoff, DOKU’s Chief Operating Officer said,
“As a leading payments provider in Indonesia with the widest suite of online and offline payments products serving over 150,000 merchants, we look forward to offering our innovative products to similar businesses in Malaysia.

We believe the opportunity to enter Malaysia is all the more attractive given the similar socio-cultural backgrounds of our two countries.”
Mansor Abd Rahman
Mansor Abd Rahman, CEO of senangPay said,
“Our gateway is secured and we provide reliable service and superior support. We are beginning to see more merchants using us. So, I believe this acquisition is beneficial and necessary for the company’s growth as well for everyone internally and our merchants.

By closing the gap between the two countries, and combining expertise from two companies, I expect to see significant improvements in areas we may have never expected, as well as in areas we wish to improve,”

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Digital Transformation
Sponsored

BaaS Needs to Double Down on Cross-Industry Partnerships to Fuel Growth

									by Bosky S, Regional Head of BaaS, APAC, Finastra
July 15, 2022
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Banking as a Service (BaaS) is seen as one of the biggest opportunities in financial services and is experiencing rapid growth in APAC.
Indeed, almost 9 out of 10 APAC executives surveyed by Finastra said they had already implemented BaaS solutions or were planning to.
But this adoption does not just include banks, as the nature of BaaS means that growth is being driven across an entire ecosystem of players, from banks to bigtechs and fintechs to retailers and SMEs.
This rapidly maturing market is expected to be worth US$7 trillion by 2030.
Whilst this valuation might seem high, it is in fact limited only by how successfully organisations across the BaaS value chain can forge successful partnerships.
This is because collaboration – between providers, distributors and enablers – is inherent in the BaaS model, and is what is enabling the creation of completely new propositions for the end customer and alternative revenue streams at each part of the value chain.
Choice, scalability and agility, are all at the very core of successful BaaS offerings.

A recent study by Finastra, Banking as a Service: Outlook 2022 | Paving the way for Embedded Finance reveals the extent distributors – the consumer facing brands that offer BaaS solutions such as BNPL – plan to spend on leveraging partnerships over the coming years.
Over the next three years, a third of the largest distributors whose annual revenue exceeds US$1 billion, say they are planning to spend 15% more on partnerships each year.
Over the same time period, over a third of distributors expect to increase their BaaS offerings by more than 15% per year, showing their confidence in this rapidly growing industry.

The biggest priorities for distributors when choosing which providers or enablers to work with are cost, data security and ease of integration, but requirements differ according to industries.
For instance, telecommunications and technology distributors have a higher preference for ensuring brand reputation than other segments, while transport and automotive brands place emphasis on the breadth of the services offered.
To cater for such a wide range of priorities and preferences, a marketplace model is required.
This allows distributor brands to select the provider that best suits their particular needs, in turn helping their customers get access to the right products, at the right time, for the right cost.
For instance, a BNPL marketplace model for e-commerce platforms would allow merchants to significantly increase both customer conversion rates and average order value.
A competitive marketplace offers similar benefits to retail payments, POS financing, SME lending and beyond.
With decreased barriers to entry and an increasing number of players vying for product market share, the onus has shifted to enablers to show diversification of both their product offerings and capabilities.
Enablers must also provide proven use cases and promising ROI during partnership discussions with distributors and providers to demonstrate that the full potential of BaaS will be met.
Collaborative and mutually beneficial partnerships, along with an open marketplace model, are required for an open and competitive BaaS ecosystem that will drive the success of a multi-trillion dollar industry.

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Insurtech

Malaysian Insurtech VSure Expands Its Footprint to the UK

									by Fintech News Malaysia
July 15, 2022
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Malaysian digital insurer VSure.life announced its expansion to the United Kingdom to make it affordable for small businesses to access insurance.
VSure has aligned with local player McGill and Partners, a boutique (re)insurance broker specialising in creating bespoke, game-changing solutions for clients, to increase its market penetration in the UK.
The company has also collaborated with specialist insurance expert Pro MGA Global Solutions to gain a better grasp and understanding of the UK insurance scene.

As an appointed representative of Pro MGA Global Solutions, the company has obtained its Managing General Agent (MGA) licence.
This enables VSure to carry out regulated insurance activities in the United Kingdom, beginning with community-based commercial insurance programmes later this year.
As part of the announcement, Gary Ross was appointed as the VSure’s UK CEO to lead its operations in the region.
Gary has over 30 years of experience in the UK insurance industry and has held numerous leadership roles in various organisations over the course of his distinguished career.
Gary said,
“Being a part of VSure is an exciting step in transforming the UK insurance industry to provide more simple, affordable, and flexible solutions to empower and grow local business communities.

VSure have all the necessary approvals and licenses from regulators and cannot wait to start making waves locally.”
Eddy Wong
Eddy Wong, Co-founder, CEO and Managing Director at VSure Group said,
“Our launch in the UK represents a significant step forward for the company in becoming a serious player in using technology to revolutionise the insurance industry globally.

Having a foothold in the UK and partnering up with local players will give us a strong platform and profile to continue expanding internationally.”

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Payments

Touch ‘n Go Partners With PayNet to Launch Cashless Initiative in Kedah

									by Fintech News Malaysia
July 18, 2022
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Touch ‘n Go (TNG) Group has partnered with the Payment Network Malaysia (PayNet) to launch the ‘Mai Kita Cashless’ campaign for merchants and consumers at the Pasar Tani Kekal in Changlun, Kedah.
They are encouraged to change their business operations strategy with Touch ‘n Go eWallet and DuitNow QR as the primary mode of payment.
The campaign focuses on the communities in three villages within the area of Changlun, namely Kampung Baru Changloon, Kampung Paya Nongmi, and Kampung Tradisi Lembah Keriang.

There are over 300 merchants at Pasar Tani Kekal and the surrounding areas.
From now till 31 August 2022, these consumers can use Touch ’n Go eWallet for purchases by scanning the DuitNow QR code and they will receive a RM5 cashback for every transaction, with a minimum transaction sum of RM10.
Merchants who sign up within this period of time, will get a RM20 reward upon completion of 10 transactions.
The ‘Mai Kita Cashless’ campaign was launched to encourage and support the government’s continuous efforts in promoting cashless payments.
The campaign, which will run till 31 December 2022, also seeks to convert rural communities into a cashless society by educating the community on cashless transactions as a mode of payment.
Currently, Touch ‘n Go eWallet is accepted at over 670,000 online and offline retail points and at 1.2 million DuitNow QR points of sale nationwide.
Alan Ni
“We started this initiative with PayNet as we want to provide the opportunity and platform to the rural communities in Malaysia, starting with Changlun in the Northern territory, to use and benefit from Touch ‘n Go eWallet and DuitNow QR.

This collaboration with PayNet allows us to extend a seamless, fast, convenient, and safe platform with DuitNow QR for merchants and consumers in Changlun, Kedah. We believe this partnership will help to fortify all merchants, as well as consumers in improving the economy in this area,”
said Alan Ni, Chief Executive Officer, TNG Digital.

Farhan Ahmad
“We are now delighted to partner with TNG Digital to bring those same benefits of speed and convenience to Changlun as part of our ‘Project Cashless Kampung’, an initiative aimed at growing digital payments in non-urban communities.

Since DuitNow QR is the common QR code for the country, consumers can use it to make cashless payments across Changlun regardless of the bank or eWallet they want to use. We hope this initiative will spur economic growth in the area by making commerce more seamless and reducing the cost and hassle of managing cash,”
said Farhan Ahmad, Group CEO, PayNet.

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Lending

BNPL Platform Ablr Has Gone Live in Malaysia

									by Fintech News Malaysia
July 22, 2022
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Ablr, a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) platform, announced that it has gone live in Malaysia. The firm currently has a network of over 30 brands in Malaysia and Singapore spanning over 250 merchant points.
First-time users can download the Ablr mobile app and will need to complete the onboarding process with their mobile number. They will then need to verify their identity and link their Ablr account with either a debit or credit card.
To shop using Ablr, customers will need to scan a QR code or will be directed to a payment link.

Customers can then proceed to make payment for their first instalment after which there will be recurring monthly payments until the product or service purchased is fully paid for.
Amanda Chin
“Ablr is excited to mark its Malaysia debut as a BNPL with a difference, offering a range of life-fulfilling and life-enhancing products and services to meet the fast-evolving and discerning needs of Malaysians.

With Ablr, consumers can now pay for their families’ healthcare treatments, their children’s online music classes or upskilling courses for themselves, home living equipment in building a cosier home to memorable travel experiences with easy, fixed monthly instalments, from 30 days up to 60 months, depending on the plans on offer by our growing list of merchants.”
said Amanda Chin, Chief Executive Officer of Ablr Malaysia.

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AI
Lending
Sponsored

4 Ways Alternative Data Is Improving Fintech Companies in APAC

									by Mobilewalla
July 28, 2022
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Various categories of fintech firms – Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), digital lending, payments and collections – are increasingly leveraging predictive models built using artificial intelligence and machine learning to support core business functions such as risk decisioning.
According to a report by Grand View Research, Inc., the global AI in fintech market size is expected to reach US$41.16 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.7% in Asia-Pacific alone from 2022 to 2030.
The success of AI in fintech, or any business for that matter, hinges on an organisation’s ability to make accurate predictions based on data.
While internal data (first-party data) needs to be factored into AI models, this data often fails to capture critical predictive features, causing these models to underperform. In these situations, alternative data and feature enrichment can establish a powerful advantage.
Enriching first party data with highly predictive features adds the necessary breadth, depth and scale needed to increase the accuracy of machine learning models.
Here’s a look at four data enrichment strategies for certain use cases and processes that fintech companies can leverage to grow their business and manage risk.
1. Improving Know Your Customer (KYC) Verification Processes
Source: Adobe Stock
Generally, all fintech companies can benefit from AI-driven KYC implementation with enough data and a highly predictive model.
Fintech companies can look at enriching their internal data with large scale, high quality alternative data to compare with customer inputs, such as address, to help verify customer identity.
These machine-generated insights can be more accurate than manual ones and serve as a layer of protection against human error and can also speed up customer onboarding.
The accurate and near real-time verification can help improve overall user experience which in turn boosts customer conversion rates.
2. Enhancing Risk Modeling to Improve Credit Availability
Many fintech firms provide consumer credit via virtual credit cards or e-wallets and oftentimes, with a pay later scheme.
The last five years have seen rapid emergence of these companies, with the majority in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and Latin America, where there is limited availability of credit among the broader population.
Since the majority of applicants lack traditional credit scores, this new breed of credit provider must use different methods to assess risk and make quick accept or decline decisions.
In response to this, these companies are building their own risk assessment models that supplant traditional risk scoring using alternative data, often sourced from third party data providers. This method produces models that act as proxies of traditional risk markers.
By leveraging the power of AI and alternative consumer data, it’s possible to assess risk with a level of precision comparable to traditional credit bureaus.
3. Understanding High-Value Customers to Reach Similar Prospects
Source: iStock
First-party data is usually limited to consumers’ interactions with the business collecting it.
Alternative data can be particularly valuable when used to deepen a fintech’s understanding of its best customers. This allows businesses to focus on serving the audiences that drive the greatest value.
It also empowers them to identify lookalike audiences of prospects that share the same characteristics.
For example, fintech firms that provide some kind of credit may employ predictive modeling to build portraits of their highest-value customers and then score consumers based on their fit against these attributes.
To achieve this, they combine their internal data with third-party predictive features like life stages, interests and travel intent.
This model can be used to reach new audiences with the greatest likelihood of turning into high-value customers.
4. Powering Affinity Models with Unique Behavioral Insights
Affinity modeling is similar to the risk modeling described above. But while risk modeling determines the likelihood of unwanted outcomes such as credit defaults, affinity modeling predicts the likelihood of desired outcomes, such as offer acceptance.
Specifically, affinity analysis helps fintech companies determine which customers are most likely to buy into other products and services based on their buying history, demographics or individual behavior.
This information enables more effective cross-selling, upselling, loyalty programmes and personalised experiences, leading customers to new products and service upgrades.
These affinity models, like the credit risk models described above, are constructed by applying machine learning on consumer data.
Sometimes it’s possible to create these models using first-party data containing details like historical purchases and financial behavior data, however this data is increasingly common among financial services.
To construct affinity models with greater reach and accuracy, fintech firms can combine their data with unique behavioral insights such as app usage and interests outside of their environment to understand which customers have the propensity to purchase new offerings, as well as recommend the next-best product that matches their preferences.
The Business Case for Data and AI in Fintech

If you don’t adopt a plan to leverage alternative data and AI in your fintech company soon, you’ll likely be left behind.
IBM Global AI Adoption Index 2022 says 35% of companies today have reported using AI in their business, and an additional 42% reported they are exploring AI.
In a Tribe report Fintech Five by Five, 70% of fintechs already use AI with wider adoption expected by 2025. 90% of them use APIs and 38% of respondents think the biggest future application of AI will be predictions of consumer behavior.
Regardless of the product or service being offered, modern consumers are coming to expect the smart, personalised experiences that come along with access to data, predictive modeling, AI and marketing automation.

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Lending

CIMB Partners With Fave to Offer BNPL Services to Its Over 8 Million Cardholders

									by Fintech News Malaysia
July 27, 2022
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CIMB Bank has partnered with Southeast Asian payments platform Fave to offer buy now, pay later (BNPL) services to its customers.
The offering is aimed at providing shoppers with access to an alternative and flexible payment option and connect merchants to a larger customer base across Malaysia.
The bank said that this collaboration enables over 8.4 million CIMB cardholders to have access to Fave’s BNPL service at over 15,000 merchant locations.

Fave’s BNPL service provides greater flexibility as it allows shoppers to split payments into three interest-free instalments.
In addition, users will benefit from stacked rewards as they will be able to earn CIMB bonus points and up to 15% cashback with their purchases at selected merchants.
To use this BNPL service, users need to download the Fave app and link their CIMB debit or credit card. They will then be able to use the FavePay Later feature when making a payment at any of Fave in-store and online merchant.
Samir Gupta
Samir Gupta, CEO of Group Consumer Banking of CIMB Group said,
“We are excited to enter this fast-growing space with Fave as our partner to provide a convenient and easy-to-use BNPL service to our customers.

This partnership marks yet another step towards the convergence of innovation in digital payments with established banking platforms to better serve Malaysians.”
Joel Neoh
Joel Neoh, CEO of Fave said,
“We are honoured to partner with CIMB and work towards our mission to facilitate rewarding and affordable shopping experiences for customers, a mission that now extends to the 8.4 million CIMB card users.

Collaboration has enabled us to extend this service to debit card customers that do not have traditional credit lines with financial institutions and improve financial participation.”

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Lending

Razer Merchant Services Partners Atome to Offer Its Merchants BNPL Acceptance

									by Fintech News Malaysia
July 28, 2022
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Razer Merchant Services (RMS), the B2B arm of Razer Fintech, has partnered with Singaporean buy now, pay later (BNPL) platform Atome to enable flexible deferred payment acceptance during checkout for its online and offline merchants.
To pay, users first have to download Atome’s app and register an account, before selecting Atome as the checkout payment option.
Starbucks is among the first RMS merchants to use Atome’s flexible payment method through this partnership.

Atome today partners with over 3,000 merchants in the country since entering the market in Q3 2020.
According to Atome, average order value has increased by more than 30% with an estimated 85% rate of return customers while consumers using its BNPL services have contributed over 25% of sales for merchants.
Lee Li Meng
“RMS is very excited for this partnership with Atome, as it will benefit our merchants and their customers by offering the latest and most convenient payment methods across Malaysia.

We look forward to extending this partnership with Atome to reach and penetrate the Southeast Asian market for consumers who do not have access to card scheme instalments.”
said Lee Li Meng, CEO of Razer Fintech.

Jeremy Wong
“Through our strategic partnership with RMS, we hope to continue supporting merchants by offering a flexible, secure, and seamless experience to their customers, to further drive their sales and conversions with flexible deferred payments.

We are also excited for Atome users who can now pay for their purchases and for RMS merchants who can attract and retain customers with Atome’s BNPL,”
said Jeremy Wong, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Atome.

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Cloud
Digital Transformation
Virtual Banking

Bank Islam Selects Cloud Provider AWS to Power Its “Be U” Digital Bank

									by Fintech News Malaysia
August 1, 2022
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Bank Islam has selected Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon.com company, as its preferred cloud provider to power its Be U digital bank.
The bank is building Be U through its Centre of Digital Experience (CDX), an independent division which is developing new banking services on AWS to transform customer experiences.
According to AWS, Bank Islam will now be able to develop new digital financial services including an app, a debit card, and a financing facility that complies with Shariah financial requirements, in just a few weeks.

The cloud provider added that CDX also gains the agility to innovate rapidly to become more customer-centric at a lower cost, while complying with the bank’s stringent security and compliance control requirements.
CDX has also selected cloud-native AWS Advanced Technology Partner Mambu to help further accelerate the bank’s digital transformation journey.
Mambu provisioned its cloud-native core banking solution on AWS to power CDX’s development environment in reportedly just one day, enabling the bank to build the Be U prototype in three months.
This agility helped CDX validate its digital banking technology stack quickly, before beginning production of Be U.
On top of this platform, CDX is building new digital banking products using Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS), which gives Bank Islam the flexibility to start, run, and scale Kubernetes container applications in the cloud.
With Amazon CloudFront, a content-delivery network service, CDX can deliver content, like educational videos and interactive forecasting tools, via Be U to help customers monitor their spending, control budgeting, and oversee all aspects of their banking experience, including authorizing international credit card spending.
AWS’s capabilities will allow Bank Islam’s strategic partners, including financial technology firms and digital marketplaces, to integrate and co-innovate with CDX to provide financial services like payments, financing, and financial advice via Be U, offering customers more ways to manage their finances digitally.
To prepare employees for digital transformation and equip them with the right skillsets, Bank Islam launched a broad staff upskilling initiative designed by AWS Training and Certification. As part of this initiative, all of Bank Islam’s 4,000+ employees have access to foundational cloud training.
Mohd Muazzam Mohamed
“We selected AWS as our preferred cloud provider to benefit from the highest levels of security and compliance, without sacrificing speed of innovation.

We were able to develop a prototype for our Be U digital bank in only three months with AWS, and we can now explore advanced cloud services, like machine learning, to develop an alternative credit framework to broaden access to customers who would otherwise have difficulty obtaining a credit line.”
said Mohd Muazzam Mohamed, CEO of Bank Islam.
Conor McNamara
“In Malaysia, Bank Islam is a great example of that. Working with AWS gives Bank Islam access to an unmatched portfolio of cloud services with the highest levels of security so they can deliver intuitive customer solutions quickly, securely, and at scale.

We are proud to support Bank Islam on their journey to develop new digital business solutions to better serve Malaysians.”
said Conor McNamara, Managing Director of AWS ASEAN.

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Regtech/Regulation

SC Invites Feedback on Tech Risk Management Framework for Capital Markets

									by Fintech News Malaysia
August 1, 2022
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The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has published a consultation paper and is seeking the public’s feedback on a proposed regulatory framework relating to the management of technology risks by capital market entities.
The proposed regulatory framework for technology risk management is part of the SC’s commitment to enhance governance and oversight of technology risks in capital market entities while further strengthening their technological resilience.
It is also in line with the SC’s development and regulatory aspirations outlined in the Capital Market Masterplan 3.

The consultation paper sets out the key highlights of the proposed regulatory framework and seeks feedback on areas such as governance and compliance process, management of technology risks, cyber security, data and third party service provider, as well as the principles relating to the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).
The SC said in a statement,
“The proposed regulatory framework aims to further improve capital market entities’ ability and effectiveness in detecting and addressing an increasing range of technology risks due to the prevalent use of technology, emergence of new technologies and the growing sophistication of cyber threats.”
The consultation paper in relation to the proposed regulatory framework is available here.
Interested parties and members of the public can submit their comments, feedback and queries to the SC by 19 September 2022 at cpresponse@seccom.com.my.

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Payments

BigPay Adds New Remittance Corridors in 38 Countries Across the UK and Europe

									by Fintech News Malaysia
August 3, 2022
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BigPay, a Capital A venture company, announced that it has added 38 new countries to its international remittance services.
This includes England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales in the United Kingdom, and 34 countries in Europe, including France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and Spain.
To make an international bank transfer to these countries, senders will need to enter the amount to remit, select the country, and add in the recipient’s bank details.

BigPay is currently offering free international transfers for a limited time only to Europe and the United Kingdom.
The app first launched its international remittance services in September 2019 and is said to have experienced double digit growth despite the pandemic.
Currently, BigPay enables users to send money directly with no hidden fees to bank accounts in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, China, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Australia.
Salim Dhanani
Salim Dhanani, CEO and Co-founder of BigPay said,
“BigPay leverages technology to dramatically reduce the cost and complexity of sending money abroad for its users. We are ensuring that it is affordable, convenient and transparent for users to transfer money abroad – whether it is to send money home to loved ones, to university bills or for overseas purchases.

BigPay will continue to expand the remittance feature and will soon have the ability to accept incoming transfers from anywhere in the world with the best exchange rates.”

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Lending

MOF, BNM, SC Task Force Seeks Feedback for BNPL Regulation

									by Vincent Fong
August 4, 2022
0 comments

The Consumer Credit Oversight Board Task Force today issued the Consumer Credit Act consultation paper, the new act seeks to regulate and consolidate all consumer credit activities under its umbrella, and to promote fair lending and responsible conduct by credit providers.

The task force is led by Ministry of Finance, Bank Negara Malaysia, and Securities Commission Malaysia in collaboration with Ministry of Housing and Local Government, Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Entrepreneur Development And Cooperation, and Companies Commission of Malaysia.

The consultation paper is the first of a two-part consultation paper, which provides a broad overview and approach of the proposed regulatory framework. The second part which is targeted to be released in Q4 of 2022 will focus more on the nitty-gritty aspects of the authorisation and licensing framework that will apply to credit providers.
The framework defines “credit consumers” as individuals who obtain or intend to obtain credit from a credit provider as well as micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) who obtain credit from a credit provider not exceeding RM 500,000.
Based on this definition, P2P lenders will also need to comply with the minimum requirements under the act as they typically provide financing to SMEs under the sum of RM 500,000.
The task force seeks to roll out the regulatory framework in three phases, in the first phase credit activities that will be regulated include; BNPL, Factoring Leasing, Impaired Loan Buyers, and Debt Collection Agencies.
In this first phase, BNPL operators, factoring, or leasing businesses will need to seek licensing from the Consumer Credit Oversight Board, and credit service providers engaging in debt collection and the buying of impaired loans will need to be registered.
Since BNPL is currently an unregulated activity, it is expected that a grace period will be given during the transition to become regulated entities.
Whereas in phase two, the act seeks to regulate Hire Purchase, Credit Sales, Moneylender and Pawnbrokers. Currently, these consumer credit activities are regulated by the likes of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government and Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs.
Finally, in Phase 3 which is slated for 2030, further proposals will be developed to consider the appropriate regulatory architecture for the financial sector in Malaysia.
The Task Force welcomes feedback to be submitted by 5th September via email to CCAConsultation@bnm.gov.my. The task force will also be holding focus group discussions and engagement sessions with industry players in the following one to two months.
The consultation paper can be downloaded here.

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Apple Pay Makes Its Debut in Malaysia

Payments

Apple Pay Makes Its Debut in Malaysia

									by Fintech News Malaysia
August 10, 2022
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Apple announced that its customers in Malaysia can now use Apple Pay with their iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac.
Merchants such as KFC, Maxis, Machines, McDonald’s, Mydin, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, U Mobile, Uniqlo, Village Grocer, and Watsons — and apps and websites including Shopee, Sephora, Atome, and Adidas — now offer customers the ability to pay with Apple Pay.
Every Apple Pay purchase is authenticated with Face ID, Touch ID, or a device passcode, as well as a one-time unique dynamic security code.

Credit and debit card numbers are not stored on device or on Apple servers; instead, a unique Device Account Number is assigned, encrypted, and securely stored in the Secure Element on the user’s device, and each transaction is authorised with a one-time unique dynamic security code.
Apple does not retain transaction information that can be tied back to the customer. Transactions stay between the customer, the merchant or developer, and the bank or card issuer.
If a user’s iPhone is lost or stolen, they can use Find My iPhone to quickly locate, lock, or suspend payments from that device.
Customers with Visa and Mastercard cards from banks including AmBank, Maybank, and Standard Chartered Bank can now use Apple Pay, with American Express cards to be available with Apple Pay later this year.
Apple Pay is available in over 60 countries and regions, and works with more than 10,000 bank and network partners worldwide.
Jennifer Bailey
“We are delighted to bring Apple Pay to Malaysia, providing an easier, safer, and more secure way to pay with iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac. We think users will love the convenience and security of using Apple Pay.

Our customers in Malaysia will benefit from using Apple Pay with the support of the most popular banks, merchants, and our customers’ favourite apps.”
said Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet.

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Lending

Gary Yeoh Joins Atome Malaysia as GM After a Short Stint at Fave

									by Fintech News Malaysia
August 10, 2022
0 comments

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) platform Atome announced the appointment of Gary Yeoh as its General Manager.
With over 20 years’ experience in retail and financial and payment sectors, Gary will be instrumental in spearheading Atome’s growth in Malaysia.
Prior to joining Atome, Gary was announced as the Country Manager for Fave Malaysia in February 2022, in that role he oversaw its business growth and operations.

He was part of the founding team at Boost, Axiata Digital’s fintech arm, where the e-wallet grew to a base of over 9 million users and 350 thousand merchants during his 5 years tenure.
Atome launched in Malaysia in the last quarter of 2020 and now collaborates with over 3,000 merchant partners.
In the first half of 2022 alone, Atome has added the Malay language feature on its app and included deferred payment options including pay over 6 or 12 months at selected merchants.
Atome Malaysia had also launched an iBNPL partnership with PayHalal, a Syariah-compliant payment gateway which allows riba-free, zero percent interest payments.
In October 2021, Standard Chartered announced a 10-year strategic partnership with Atome Financial, the holding company that operates Atome and other digital lending brands. The partnership includes US$500 million in financing to expand Atome Financial’s regional ecosystem of merchants and customers.
Gary Yeoh
Gary Yeoh, General Manager of Atome Malaysia said,
“I’m very excited to join and build on Atome Malaysia’s exciting momentum as the leading BNPL brand in Malaysia. We have a list of exciting brand partners to announce in the coming months and we’ll continue to drive value for our merchant partners across Malaysia.

At the same time, we will also continue to enhance the customer experience as the most flexible way to shop, pay and earn throughout the shopping journey.”

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E-Wallets
Payments

TNG E-Wallet Users Can Refuel at Shell With Contactless RFID Payments

									by Fintech News Malaysia
August 11, 2022
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Touch ‘n Go Group and Shell Malaysia has launched a new cashless experience that enables customers to pay for fuels using Touch ‘n Go RFID at 88 Shell stations nationwide.
According to Touch ‘n Go, the number of Shell stations enabled with this new cashless fueling experience is expected to increase twofold by the end of the year.
In order to use this service, customers will need a Touch ‘n Go RFID tag linked to their Touch ‘n Go eWallet account. This is a one-time registration and activation through Touch ‘n Go eWallet.

Upon successful activation, customers simply need to park their vehicles at the RFID designated fueling bays.
Vehicles are detected within seconds, and payment will be auto-debited from the customers’ Touch n’ Go eWallets, allowing customers to proceed with refueling their vehicle.
Any unutilised amount will be immediately refunded to the customers’ Touch ‘n Go eWallet accounts.
Effendy Shahul Hamid
“We’re extremely pleased to have so quickly been able to expand the RFID use case beyond road tolling. Customers can now make payments at Shell stations without requiring any interaction with an app on their mobile phones or engaging with a point-of-sale system as payment is made via Touch ‘n Go eWallet linked to the users’ Touch ‘n Go RFID.

We are fortunate to have found a like-minded partner in Shell, who aligns with our ambition to provide customers with a cashless, contactless driving experience, and is helping us pave the way towards delivering more innovative offerings for both sets of our customers,”
said Effendy Shahul Hamid, Group Chief Executive Officer, Touch ‘n Go Group.

Seow Lee Ming
“We also went the extra mile to integrate Touch ‘n Go RFID with our loyalty partner BonusLink, allowing customers to earn loyalty points easily with each fuel purchase.

Over the last year, we have received positive response from over 10,000 pilot users, and we have been working closely with Touch ‘n Go to continuously optimise the technology to ensure a truly hassle-free payment experience,”
said Seow Lee Ming, General Manager, Mobility for Shell in Malaysia and Singapore.

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Payments
Security

Banks to Heighten Cybersecurity Countermeasures After iPay88’s Breach

									by Fintech News Malaysia
August 12, 2022
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Malaysia’s iPay88 revealed in a statement that it had experienced a cybersecurity incident where card data may have been potentially compromised.
iPay88 said that upon discovery of the issue, it had immediately initiated an investigation on 31 May 2022 and brought in cybersecurity experts to contain the issue.
The company claimed that the containment process was successfully completed and that no further suspicious activity has been detected since 20 July 2022.

According to iPay88, it has implemented various new measures and controls to strengthen the system’s security against any further incidents.
“The investigation is currently ongoing and we are working closely with the authorities and relevant parties on this matter. More updates and detailed findings will be shared in due course.
All financial institution partners have been informed and kept up to date. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and ensure the safety of the cardholder data.”
Fintech News Malaysia has reached out to iPay88 to clarify the extent of the breach, but they have declined to comment.
In light of this incident, The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) and Association of Islamic Banking and Financial Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM) cautioned banks to “take seriously the data security of their cardholders”.
The associations stressed the need for banks to implement additional countermeasures to protect cardholders from potential risks that may arise from this incident. This includes the heightening of real-time fraud monitoring to detect fraudulent and out-of-norm card usage behaviour.
Cardholders are reminded to closely monitor their bank statements and transaction alerts that they receive from their banks. They were also urged to reach out to their respective issuers via call centers or branches for any assistance related to this matter.
PKR information chief Fahmi Fadzil had also given his take on the issue by calling for a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to conduct an investigation into the leak stating that this is a national issue as it involves the security of Malaysians’ personal data.

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Digital Transformation

KPMG Partners With FAOM to Catalyse the Growth of the Malaysian Fintech Sector

									by Fintech News Malaysia
August 15, 2022
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KPMG in Malaysia and Fintech Association of Malaysia (FAOM) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the aim to catalyse the growth of Malaysia’s fintech sector and the digital players in the space.
Through this collaboration, KPMG and FAOM will support each parties’ programmes and initiatives that aim to bring together players in the fintech ecosystem.
This will include connecting subject matter experts, organising corporate innovation activities and industry roundtable sessions, and supporting programs related to the National Technology & Innovation Sandbox which is spearheaded by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) and also MaGIC’s Global Accelerator Program (GAP), among others.

Wilson Beh
Wilson Beh, President of FAOM said,
“FAOM aims, among others, to be the voice of Malaysia’s fintech community and to engage with industry players to foster a healthy ecosystem for the scene to thrive.

By tapping into KPMG’s multi-disciplinary expertise, furthered by knowledge sharing, we hope to pave the way for greater progress in the fintech space.”
Datuk Johan Idris, Managing Partner of KPMG Malaysia said,
Datuk Johan.
“We want to do our part in broadening Malaysia’s fintech footprint in the region. As a professional services firm with an established global network and deep expertise across the financial services sector, KPMG is well positioned to support the development of fintech and entrepreneurs in Malaysia.

We look forward to working with FAOM to develop players in this sphere to grow into global giants,”
said Datuk Johan.
There have been significant strides made in the development of fintech this year, including Malaysia Digital (MD) – the recently launched government’s initiative to enhance the country’s digital capabilities, Bank Negara’s Financial Sector Blueprint 2022 – 2026 and the issuance of digital banking licenses.

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E-Wallets
WealthTech

Touch ‘n Go Launches Digital Investment Platform GoInvest

									by Fintech News Malaysia
August 15, 2022
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Touch ‘n Go Group has launched GOinvest, its proprietary digital investment platform, which can be accessed through Touch ‘n Go eWallet.
GOinvest’s first product offering is the Principal Islamic Money Market Fund which is developed and managed by Principal Asset Management Berhad.
Touch ‘n Go eWallet users, aged 18 years and above, can start investing as little as RM10 in the Shariah-compliant fund.

There is no lock-in period or cap on the investment balance as compared to other conventional deposit products.
Users may also choose to set their personal financial goals as this would help them to focus on and achieve their investment goals.
Eventually GOinvest will enable all Touch ‘n Go eWallet users to access and choose from a range of thoroughly curated investment products, earning returns and accumulating savings in the process.
The group said that it will be rolling out more investment products on GOinvest in the coming months.
Touch ‘n Go Group has been progressively offering financial products and services, such as investments, insurance, lending, and payments solutions.
In 2021, the group launched its first of its kind eWallet feature, GO+ which allows users to earn daily returns from Principal e-Cash, a Shariah-compliant money market fund and at the same time support day to day payments. GO+ has garnered close to 2.5 million users to date.
Difference between GO+ and GOinvest
Alan Ni
Alan Ni, CEO of TNG Digital said,
“GOinvest is set to disrupt the investment landscape where conventional investment products are intended only for those who can afford larger investment sums.

GOinvest caters to the affordability of everyday Malaysians, offering investment products which are low-ticket and easy to understand, and simplifying the investment process.”
Munirah Khairuddin
Munirah Khairuddin, Chief Executive Officer and Country Head of Principal Malaysia said,
“We empathize with and understand the challenges faced by society under the present economic conditions. Our continued partnership with Touch ‘n Go Group, this time through GOinvest, means a great deal to us as it allows us to offer affordable investment solutions that can be conveniently accessed by all Malaysians.

The Principal Islamic Money Market Fund is a low-risk fund which offers long-term returns to investors to help them build enough savings amid future inflations.”

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Digital Transformation

CIMB Debuts Brand New Mobile App CIMB OCTO

									by Fintech News Malaysia
August 18, 2022
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CIMB Group today introduced the early release of CIMB OCTO App, its next generation mobile banking app designed to deliver new features and personalisation for over 8 million customers nationwide.
CIMB OCTO will be rolled out in phases and enhanced with each successive release, allowing customers to experience it and provide their feedback before the app’s full release.

New features of the app includes data driven personalisation based on the users activities. The app, for example will compile a list of potentially tax deductible debit and credit card transactions and send it to the user during tax filling season.
The app will send reminders for bill payments based on transaction history and provide investment recommendations as well.
CIMB OCTO is expected to be released with its full suite of features and solutions by the first half of 2023.
These new features that are slated to be rolled out include cross border QR payments in Thailand and Singapore via PromptPay and PayNow respectively, cross border remittance which they claim will provide the best rates in the market, and further insights and recommendations on how users can better manage their finances.
In the meantime, CIMB Clicks will continue to be available concurrently to complement CIMB OCTO, ensuring that customers will have the option and flexibility of accessing banking services as required on either digital platforms.
They said that the release of CIMB OCTO marks the next phase in CIMB’s digital-led banking experience, incorporating new features based on best practices with personalisation at the fore.
In addition to the new features and functionality, the app is supported by a new technology stack and operational infrastructure with a focus on providing enhanced stability and security.

Samir Gupta
Samir Gupta, CEO, Group Consumer Banking of CIMB Group said,
“CIMB OCTO reflects our focus on delivering solutions that are timely and relevant, given the accelerated shift towards digital transactions and more specifically mobile banking. It is a response to the changing behaviours of customers in Malaysia, providing a broader range of personalised banking solutions to meet their current and future needs, preferences and lifestyles. Inspired by our customers’ feedback, we have designed the new app with a refreshed interface and enhancements that embody the collaborative approach and personalisation.”

“In addition, the new app also provides CIMB with greater flexibility, agility and speed to market in deploying platform expansions such as capacity upgrades or new features in response to future customer needs and traffic growth.

The release of our future-ready app marks a new phase in our digitalisation journey and represents our focus on Customer Centricity as part of our Forward23+ strategy. We hope that our customers will be excited to try out the new banking app, and we encourage them to share their feedback with us as we continuously refine its features and experience,”
he added.
As of today, 4.5 million CIMB customers are digitally active, up by 10% year-on-year (“yoy”). CIMB Clicks mobile users have also increased by 37% since 2020. Digital transactions today make up 70% of the bank’s total transactions by value, an increase of 11% from the past year.
The new app is now available for download as CIMB OCTO MY on the Apple App Store, Google Play Store and Huawei AppGallery.

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Digital Transformation
WealthTech

Kenanga Bets Big on Its Super App and Embedded Wealth for Their Next Phase of Growth

									by Vincent Fong
August 22, 2022
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These days everyone wants to be a super app from bigtechs to banks and even an airline company like Air Asia.
It’s easy to see why, the allure of being able to deliver a plethora of services through a single app and creating a sticky value proposition for your users are certainly compelling reasons for companies to be drawn towards building super apps.
The most recent addition to the list is Malaysia’s largest independent investment bank Kenanga Bank. In a closed-door media session, the bank revealed that they are targetting to launch a digital wealth super app by the first quarter of 2023.

Kenanga Bank seems to have been building towards this goal for some time now, from the launch of their digital-only equities brokerage Rakuten Trade to the launch of their robo-advisory platform Kenanga Digital Investing (KDI) and the series of investments in companies like Merchantrade, CapBay, and Tokenize Exchange.

“We have dedicated years in building our business in stock broking, futures, asset management, investment banking, More recently we have collaborated with digital partners like Rakuten, CapBay, Merchantrade, Tokenize to expand our digital product offerings. The beauty now is to integrate all our products and solutions onto one single platform, one ecosystem that will transform how Malaysian view and approach wealth creation,” Datuk Chay Wai Leong, Group Managing Director, Kenanga Investment Bank

The investment bank intends to house all their digital wealth services under the soon to be launched super app.
This includes services like stock trading, cash management products, robo-advisory, P2P financing, cryptocurrencies, IEO, and more. The app will also feature an e-wallet function as well, which comes with a pre-paid card and is powered by Merchantrade.

Housing all these services under a singular super app will definitely make cross-selling of their various wealth products more seamless and they are likely to find success in markets where they already have a proven track record.
For example, Rakuten Trade which was launched in 2017 has already seen over 250,000 users with over RM 3.5 billion assets under management (AUM), and KDI which was launched in February crossed the RM 100 million AUM mark within two months and is currently managing over RM 200 million AUM.
However, whether they will find the same success in the cryptocurrency space remains to be seen, at the time of writing we are in for what is predicted to be a long crypto winter.
In addition to that, within the local regulated crypto exchange space, Luno still dominates the market with the last reported number of customers exceeding half a million. Hardcore crypto enthusiasts who are both anti-establishment and anti-banks are unlikely to want to put their invest in crypto through a bank’s superapp.
Though, all hope is not lost, if Kenanga takes inspiration from DBS, it may yet find its path to success. DBS’ crypto exchange DDex exceeded SGD 1 Billion in trading value within its first year of operation.
They have done so via a membership-only business model where it provides other brokerages and asset houses with a safe and secure solution to access the cryptocurrency and digital payment tokens market.
Wealth-as-a-Service Solution
Kenanga also said that it is looking to partner with digital banks and other digital platforms to embed its digital wealth services to enable them to provide Kenanga’s suite wealth services their customers.

By embedding these wealth solutions digital banks and other digital platforms will be able to go to market at a much faster pace without needing to develop their own products or build their own internal capabilities.
Touch n’ Go eWallet for example has partnered with Principal Asset Management Berhad to offer investment products GO+ and GoInvest to its end users. Digital banks in Hong Kong like ZA Bank and WeLab Bank are also rolling their own wealth services for their next phase of growth.
This demonstrates that there’s a likelihood that there will be a demand for Kenanga’s embedded wealth solutions as digital platforms and digital banks roll out wealth services to remain competitive and fuel their next phase of growth.
However, the players’ ability to offer these embedded solutions on their respective platforms is still contingent on whether or not they are able to secure approval from the Securities Commission Malaysia.
Currently, Malaysia’s regulatory framework requires platform operators to be registered as a Recognised Market Operators (RMO) in order to distribute capital market products.

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Blockchain/Bitcoin

SC Malaysia Places Huobi Global on Investor Alert List

									by Fintech News Malaysia
August 23, 2022
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The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has placed cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Global on its investor alert list for operating a digital asset exchange (DAX) in the country without being registered.

Huobi Global [https://t.co/la9Y3ntGuq]
has been added to the SC’s Investor Alert List for operating a digital asset exchange (DAX) in Malaysia without being registered with the SC. pic.twitter.com/z3IGgnCa0t
— SC Malaysia (@SecComMY) August 22, 2022

In November 2020, Huobi announced in a vaguely worded statement that it had secured a license from the “Malaysian authorities” to provide a “safe and regulated way to trade cryptocurrencies” in the country.

The regulator stepped up to clarify that while Huobi was allowed to operate within the jurisdictions of Labuan, the company required additional approval to carry out regulated activities such as offering crypto exchange services to Malaysians outside of Labuan.
Huobi has had a long history with regulatory troubles as most recently, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission revoked its operating license, forcing it to shut down in July.
Prior to that, Huobi announced that it will no longer be able to offer services to its users in Singapore in November last year.
On top of that, Beijing’s crypto ban forced Huobi to drop its Chinese users by the 31st December last year.
The series of failed expansions proved costly as Huobi witnessed a sharp drop in revenue and was forced to lay off more than 30% of its workforce.
Just last week, Bloomberg reported that Huobi Group’s founder Leon Li is currently in talks to sell off 60% of the stakes in the company in a deal valued that could be worth up to US$3 billion. FTX’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried and Tron’s founder Justin Sun were among the potential investors involved in the preliminary talks.

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Regtech/Regulation

BNM Collaborates With SSM to Regulate AML/CFT and TFS

									by Fintech News Malaysia
August 23, 2022
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Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) will be collaborating with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) to strengthen collaboration in the regulation and supervision of anti-money laundering, countering financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) and targeted financial sanctions (TFS).
Both entities signed a Terms of Collaboration which set out the respective regulatory and supervisory responsibilities of BNM and SSM in the regulation and supervision of company secretaries and trust companies.
It will also provide for a more structured approach to assess money laundering and terrorism financing (ML/TF) risks in these two sectors, as well as to promote institutional capacity building in these areas.

Tan Sri Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus
BNM’s Governor Tan Sri Nor Shamsiah Yunus said,
“The signing today is the result of the close partnership between BNM and SSM over the years. BNM is pleased to have SSM working closely with us to secure and maintain the integrity of the financial system.

We are confident that SSM will be able to take on greater responsibility to conduct AML/CFT supervision on company secretaries and trust companies in the near future.”
Datuk Nor Azimah Abdul Aziz
Datuk Nor Azimah Abdul Aziz, CEO of SSM said,
“It is important for company secretaries and trust companies to know and understand their roles and risk exposures related to ML/TF.

This will form the basis for them to understand and develop countermeasures against these criminal activities. Today’s signing is a significant stride towards that goal.”

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