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Emmanuel Samarathisa · · 5 min readPleasant surprise in Malaysia’s digibank race
Last week, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) announced the five successful applicants for its maiden digital banking license.
When the names of the winners were unveiled on Friday, a month after the central bank’s original deadline, Kuala Lumpur-based investment bankers tell Tech in Asia that they were surprised.
Photo credit: Kaihsu Tai
They agree that, on paper, the names seem to allay concerns of political interference that had dogged the central bank ever since its open tender call for the licenses. BNM, the bankers add, took a more moderate approach, having approved a good mix of Malaysian- and foreign-controlled entities.
In its May 30 press release, BNM said it received a total of 29 applications from consortia across different industries. Among the successful applicants, three were earmarked for conventional digital banking licenses while the remaining two were picked to roll out Islamic digital banks.
The winning consortia are:
Conventional
- Boost Holdings and RHB
- Grab-Singtel and Kuok Brothers
- YTL Digital Capital and Sea
Islamic
- Aeon Financial Services, Aeon Credit Service, and MoneyLion
- KAF Investment Bank, Jirnexu, MoneyMatch, and Carsome
Tech giants, family-run conglomerates, and everything in between
The central bank said that out of the five chosen consortia, three were majority-owned by Malaysians, namely Boost-RHB Bank, YTL Digital Capital-Sea, and the KAF consortium.
Boost is the fintech arm of Axiata Group, a regional telco giant that is also majority-owned by Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional. RHB, meanwhile, is a listed large-cap bank on Bursa Malaysia and counts the Employees Provident Fund as its majority shareholder.
YTL Digital Capital is controlled by the Yeoh family, who runs the YTL conglomerate, while Sea, which operates Shopee, also runs Seabank, a digital bank in Indonesia. Sea has also snagged a similar license in Singapore.
GSX Bank, the digital banking group between Grab and Singtel, is partnering with Kuok Brothers, the investment vehicle controlled by Malaysia’s richest tycoon, Robert Kuok.
The losers
Major risks for Malaysia’s digibanks
Not out of the political woods yet
Stay ahead in Asia’s tech landscape
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The five chosen consortia will be expected to meet the central bank’s stringent guidelines within the next two years.
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