The insurer has made a strategic investment in the digital financial business of Malaysian telecommunications conglomerate Axiata.
Great Eastern, the insurance arm of OCBC Bank has made a $70 million strategic investment in Axiata Digital’s financial services (DFS) business, giving it a 21.875 percent stake in newly created holding company Boost Holdings, according to a media announcement on Friday.
The digital unit operates e-wallet and lifestyle app «Boost,» merchant touchpoints, micro-financing and micro-insurance digital financing provider «Aspirasi,» a joint venture with a local bank in Bangladesh, and a launchpad for launching digital services in other regions.
Enhancing Digital Services
The investment will be used to grow the unit over the next year in Malaysia and the region, and grow Boost’s ecosystem of merchants and customers, and enhancing Aspirasi’s credit scoring technology, and potentially housing the digital bank, the announcement said.
«By leveraging on Axiata’s network and digital capabilities, and partnering with them, we want to grow our reach into new customer segments to provide for their financial needs and ultimately improve their lives,» Khor Hock Seng, Great Eastern group CEO, said.
Growing Demand
Demand and interest for digitization are expected to grow exponentially following the Covid-19 crisis and will enable Great Eastern to participate in Axiata’s growing fintech expansion plans in the region, Axiata said.
Axiata Digital has expressed interest in Malaysia's upcoming digital banking regime and is preparing an application, the company said.
The company received a $20 million investment from Sumitomo into its digital advertising business in 2018 and $50 million from Mitsui in 2019.
