Malaysia digital banking lures dozens of firms as fintechs expand in Asia asiaone.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from asiaone.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Anshuman Daga
5 minute read
A general view of the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, July 31, 2019. REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng
SINGAPORE, July 1 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian ride-hailing-to-fintech group Grab and budget airline AirAsia (AIRA.KL) were among more than a dozen bidders involving over 50 companies that are vying for digital banking licences in Malaysia, people familiar with the matter said.
Others who submitted bids by Wednesday s deadline included telecoms operator Axiata (AXIA.KL) and a consortium backed by Chinese tech firm Tencent (0700.HK), said the sources.
They have been drawn in by relatively low financial entry barriers and the promise of a growing army of young smartphone users in a country with a population of more than 32 million.
MALAYSIA will attract more applicants for its digital bank licences than Singapore or Hong Kong, experts believe, mainly because of its relatively lower capital requirement. “We think there could be between 30 and 50 applicants. Not all of them may have the same level of commitment, though,” Shankar Kanabiran, a financial services advisory partner at EY Malaysia, tells The Edge.
Bank Negara Malaysia, which released its licensing framework for digital banks on Dec 31 last year after a six-month public consultation, plans to award up to five such licences. The central bank set a June 30 deadline for those interested to apply to do Islamic or conventional digital banking business, and will announce the winners by the first quarter of 2022.