Malaysia's central bank is ramping up its embrace of financial technology with new initiatives and regulatory support.
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has recently issued licences to four companies to operate within its «regulatory sandbox,» these include foreign as well as locally run businesses.
finews.asia reported earlier this year that the central bank had created a unit called the Financial Technology Enabler Group (FTEG) to oversee the entry of technological innovations into the country's financial services.
At that time BNM opened applications for parties intending to create innovative ways to improve the quality, efficiency and accessibility of financial services in Malaysia.
Playing In The Sandbox
For the four companies operating in the sandbox they will be allowed to commercially launch their services within limits set by the central bank and under close watch by the regulator.
GoBear and GetCover are both financial advisers and insurance aggregators while WorldRemit and MoneyMatch are allowed to conduct remittance services while the latter is also enabled to provide money changing services.
Financial Technology Momentum
The banks in the country have also been ramping up their technology expertise. CIMB recently announced the appointment of a Chief Fintech Officer for its newly set-up unit, CIMB Fintech, a new standalone unit aimed at actively exploring innovative banking solutions.
Olivier Crespin, who was formerly Group Head Digital Bank at DBS in Singapore, is scheduled to begin his new role with CIMB FinTech in June 2017.
