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Bank Negara Malaysia, the country’s central bank, has announced it will award up to five digital banking licenses out of the 29 applicants enrolled in the programme.
The announcement will be made in March 2022 and will make Malaysia the second country in the ASEAN region to issue digital banking licenses, after Singapore.
For applicants to redeem one of these licenses, they must count for an extensive customer base, and a strong pool of users who will be performing digital banking services.
However, as opposed to Singapore where up to 98% of the population over 15 years has a bank account, financial institutions looking to obtain their license in Malaysia must prove they can provide their services to the underbanked and boost the country’s digitisation process.
And, given that ecommerce and tech represent some of the most profitable fields in Southeast Asia, Bank Negara Malaysia must make its choices so that it creates a new digital ecosystem that regulates the distribution and access to financial services in an equal manner, including to the underbanked customers.
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