Sarawak eyes digital banking

KUCHING: The Sarawak government is seeking a digital banking licence and has submitted “its expression of interest” to Bank Negara, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said.

“We are fully aware that an effective digital banking must be resilient, fair and dynamic. It is among the prerequisites for the Sarawak government to collaborate with reputable technology companies and local retail banks approved by the governing bodies.

“Accordingly, the Sarawak government is in the midst of putting up the necessary infrastructure and facilities throughout Sarawak, in part to support our digital banking and other digital initiatives, ” he added. He was winding up the 2021 State Budget in the state assembly on Friday.

He said a digital banking licence would help to serve the underserved. In April 2017, Bank Negara approved the establishment of the Development Bank Of Sarawak.

https://www.thestar.com.my/business/busines...digital-banking

Cash cards for kids - digital banks race to capture the next generation

LONDON: When John Hibbs' daughter Xanthe received her first bank card in the mail, the six-year-old spent the next week Googling how to buy a horse.

Hibbs and his wife Kate had got Xanthe a newly launched children's debit card from UK digital bank Starling, one of a number of new offerings from fintechs aimed at children and teenagers.

"The earlier we can start the learning process of using a card, the earlier she can learn that you can't just go out and buy a horse," said Hibbs, who runs a charity.

While traditional banks have long offered basic savings accounts to children, fintechs say they have spotted an opportunity to offer better, slicker apps to tech-savvy kids and teenagers, who they say have been under-served.

Starling's Kite card allows parents to transfer money to their children's account, set spending limits and receive notifications of their purchases. It rivals similar products from gohenry and Monzo in Britain while in the U.S. fintechs Greenlight, Step and Copper are trying to capture the youth market.

https://www.thestar.com.my/business/busines...next-generation

Singapore picks Grab, Ant Group, others for four digital banking licences

SINGAPORE (Dec 4): A venture between Singapore Telecommunications and ride-hailing firm Grab and internet platform company Sea Ltd are among four applicants chosen to operate Singapore's first digital banks, in the city-state's biggest banking shakeup in two decades.

An entity wholly-owned by Alibaba Group affiliate Ant Group also won licences, Singapore's banking regulator said on Friday.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said: "The successful applicants must meet all relevant prudential requirements and licensing pre-conditions before MAS grants them their respective banking licences."

It expects the new digital banks to start operations from early 2022."

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/sing...anking-licences

Not sure if Grabfin Operations (M) Sdn Bhd is a subsidiary of Grab Malaysia.

Angkasa Identifies Strategic Partners In Its Bid For Digital Bank Licence

The National Co-operative Movement of Malaysia (Angkasa) has expressed interest in vying for one of the five digital bank licences offered by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM). To do so, it has identified more than 10 conglomerates and major cooperatives in the country as its strategic partners.

According to the president of Angkasa, Datuk Abdul Fattah Abdullah, these strategic partners include telecommunications and finance companies. Each of them possesses strengths that can support Angkasa’s application for the licence, thereby giving the cooperative movement a significant edge.

https://ringgitplus.com/en/blog/bank-news/a...dT7Q65UJVZKNm_w

Interest in digital banking scene gains traction

PETALING JAYA: Following the recent award of digital banking licences to companies in closest neighbour Singapore, interest in the local digital banking scene has been gaining traction.

Observers say like Singapore, the ability to bring in technology including proven digital straight through processing or STP in order to drive efficiency in the banking sector will be a crucial determinant in the dishing out of the licences.

“Bank Negara hopes that new players can apply big data and artificial intelligence to better improve risk management and productivity, ” one seasoned industry observer told StarBiz.

However, unlike in Singapore where the licences were given mostly to huge firms with large ready customer bases, he believes the future winners of these digital bank licences in Malaysia may not necessarily be of the same size.

“I don’t think the future winners of digital bank licences in Malaysia will comprise mainly of big boys with large customer bases.

https://www.thestar.com.my/business/busines...-gains-traction

In countdown, 10 days... hope no more delay.

BNM rolls out policy document on licensing for digital banks, sets June 30 deadline for application submission

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 31): Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has issued the policy document on Licensing Framework for Digital Banks following a six-month public consultation, and set June 30 as the deadline for submission of applications to the central bank for those wishing to conduct digital banking business.

Digital banks will be required to comply with the requirements under the Financial Services Act 2013 (FSA) or Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 (IFSA), including standards on prudential, Shariah, business conduct and consumer protection, as well as on anti-money laundering and terrorism financing, BNM said in a statement today.

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/bnm-...ine-application

Notification on the grant of licence will be made by the first quarter of 2022.

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Alamak.. one more year

That's discouraging indeed. But hey, the next 6 months will be crucial for us!

Seems like Shariah and AMLA compliance it is the key issue now that most of the applicants couldn’t convince BNM based on the framework

And also looks like buying time for the major banks as well to JV with tech players to co apply the license jointly

I used to be excited for new digital banks (new shiny things), but now personally I don't see much of an appeal based on my use.

So I'm in Europe, and I got a Transferwise card since I do use transferwise to convert currency, and well the currency is free.
Bonus is it supports Google Pay and my conventional bank debit card doesn't yet, so plus points on that
It also acts as a backup card, so that's cool too.

But as I look deeper into the benefits of other finch banks like Revolut or N26, I don't really see how much they'd benefit me.
1. Google Pay/visa/Mastercard/worldwide acceptance - standard benefits I already have.
2. Creation of sub accounts/jars or track your spending features - sounds cool on paper, but I already track my own spending with my own app that is more full-feature. Also a lot of these track spending is not accurate or they just lump certain transactions as "other"
Creation of sub account sounds fun, but.then I set aside money for different purpose and put them in FD/money market etc. Als

3. Other benefits like travel insurance etc - very minor benefit, and some of them already covered by a regular health insurance.

There are several tiers, starting from free (benefits 1 and some of 2), to monthly fees between around 5 - 15 euros (for benefit 1-3 and more etc). And the monthly fees is the main thing putting me off.

So for now, I'll just keep my conventional bank and Transferwise card for now. But I'll be really curious to see how what new unique features that Malaysian digital banks will bring.

p/s: Oh yeah I also got the Bigpay card which they keep touting with so many features. Main reason for me to use it just to collect Big points, other than that all those track spending features are not useful for me.

estimation, 6 months to prepare the submission (30 June deadline) + 6 more months for BNM to review & decide the application.

after that, succesful applicant(s) need to launch within 6 months after gotten the license, so the actual public service readiness is likelihood towards the 2H/end of 2022

Whilst that's true, there is certainly a bigger plan coming from the finance players with the movement. If we look to the east again, one of the things they introduced is profiling. More comprehensive credit and risk scoring and that result in one's loan application. Ultimately, it accelerates the development of one's country if we have all this enhanced infrastructure inplaced.

I hope there will be a digital bank like Monzo in the UK here in Malaysia. Closest contender I see is BigPay but they need more facilities like FD placement then I happy

So..... Ant Group is banned from their IPO...

Axiata to announce partnership for digital banking licence bid soon, says CEO

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/axia...d-soon-says-ceo

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 25): Axiata Group Bhd has agreed to partner with a company for its bid for a digital banking licence and will be announcing the details soon.

This was revealed by the telco's newly-appointed chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Izzaddin Idris at the group's financial results virtual briefing today.

However, he did not reveal the name of the company.

“We have narrowed down to just one (company) and hopefully we can announce that shortly in the next couple of weeks.

“The deadline of June 30 is not too far away. We hope to announce the partnership, the equity partnership with one partner and at the same time we hope to announce the commercial partnerships with a few other organisations,” he said.

...

No need to tell will be with CIMB for sure

https://www.thestar.com.my/business/busines...banking-journey

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/banking-fi...al-bank-licence

Potential new player: Axiata + RHB

This post has been edited by TOS: May 31 2021, 05:14 PM

https://www.sinchew.com.my/content/content_2495810.html

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/sunw...-banking-permit

Sunway also wants to join the game.

This post has been edited by TOS: Jun 16 2021, 08:29 PM