When fintech was first introduced in Malaysia about five to six years ago, it didn’t get much “attention” and “acceptance” it deserved for apparent reasons. Consumers were wary because they mistrusted the new tech. Financial services providers, too, were worried as they feared fintech companies would disrupt their traditional model and eat their lunch.
However, thanks to the timely intervention of the government and the various programmes it launched helped create awareness about fintech in the market. Today, it is one of the fastest-growing industries in this Southeast Asian country.
We, at e27, think that it is our responsibility to let the world know what is happening in the country’s fintech scene and how the sector has evolved over the past few years. With this in mind, we have compiled a comprehensive report about the state of fintech in Malaysia after talking to various stakeholders. This report digs deep into the fintech scene and covers all its aspects extensively.
We assure you that this report will act as an excellent guide for startups, VCs, and aspiring entrepreneurs, who are ready to take the plunge.
We are doing some final touchups of the report, here is a teaser for you. This teaser is intended at giving you a brief idea about what you can expect from this report.
The edge
Malaysia has the edge over its neighbouring countries in the region in terms of massive internet penetration: over 85 per cent of its population is connected to the internet. Another key advantage is that 40 per cent of its population uses mobile banking.
Also Read: 5 developing trends that will define fintech in 2020
Malaysia is also #4 in mobile social penetration globally and #1 in mobile penetration in Southeast Asia, ahead of Singapore (6), Thailand (8) and the Philippines (10).
A supportive government
Malaysia has a pro-active government, and its support for the fintech ecosystem has been remarkable. Government agency MDEC runs multiple programmes such as Orbit, Fintech Academy, MyFintechWeek, among others, to assist startups in this space.
Additionally, Bank Negara Malaysia runs Regulatory Sandbox to provide startups to experiment and work with the central bank on assessing the fintech “risk”, and its potential upside to the financial industry.
Corporate handholding
The private sector, especially the banking industry, is playing an equal role in terms of boosting the fintech ecosystem. It also runs various programmes, including CIMB Fintech, Maybank Fintech, and HLB Launchpad.
Fintech and banking
As the industry matured, the banking sector realised the potential of fintech and started adopting this tech widely to enhance the customer experience and save time and cost. Today, leading banks have fintech arms, and have been a great supporter of innovations.
New-age tech and fintech
Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence are emerging as the two game-changing technologies, which could revolutionise the banking is done in future.
While Malaysia is yet to join the bandwagon, Blockchain is already revolutionising cross-border payments, settlements and clearances around the world. Artificial Intelligence also has a profound impact when Machine Learning in the banking industry can interact with humans by making decisions and in a convincing way, encourage customers.
Fintech and Islamic Finance
The adoption of Islamic finance through fintech has a large opportunity to connect with the masses, especially rural population who have less access to financial products and services — due to costs that impede the ability for traditional FIs to effectively market outside urban areas (bloated agency cost structures and maintaining cost of a bank branch).
Prominent companies/people in fintech
MOL Global, with a total of US$169 million in its purse, is the most-funded fintech startup in Malaysia. The other companies are Jirnexu, HelloGold, iMoney, and SoftSpace.
Suhaimi Ali, Director, Financial Development and Innovation, BNM; Sam Shafie, CEO, pitchIN; and Raja Adam Malik, Lead, Regulatory
Affairs at FAOM, are a few of the prominent fintech personalities in Malaysia. 500 Startups, Tuas Capital Partners, KK Fundare among the most active VCs in this space.
If you have read this far, you must have noticed that we haven’t left anything substantial for you in this teaser. We assure you that our final report, which will be released towards the end of October, will have all that you are looking for, including graphs, illustrations, pics, infographics.
Watch this space for the final report!
Photo by Vlad Tchompalovon Unsplash
The post A sneak-peek at the state of Malaysia’s fintech ecosystem appeared first on e27.