KUALA LUMPUR (April 29): The Small and Medium Enterprises Association of Malaysia (SAMENTA) hopes that the five successful applicants of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM)’s digital bank licences will focus on serving Malaysian SMEs, especially micro and online businesses.
In a statement on Friday (April 29), SAMENTA chairman Datuk William Ng said he hopes for lower banking and financing costs, as well as quicker applications and approvals through these digital banks.
“The awarding of these digital banking licences is a huge step forward for the financial industry, and we congratulate Bank Negara for taking this bold step to further liberalise access to banking and finance for all Malaysians.
“We look forward to Bank Negara speeding up the transition from a regulatory-led to a market-driven development model, so that market players are able to provide more relevant, tailor-made and timely financial solutions to businesses, without sacrificing the integrity of our financial system,” said Ng.
He added that SAMENTA looks forward to working with the new digital banks in assisting underserved SMEs.
Earlier on Friday, BNM announced the five successful applicants for the licences, namely the Boost Holdings Sdn Bhd-RHB Bank Bhd consortium; a consortium led by GXS Bank Pte Ltd and Kuok Brothers Sdn Bhd; a consortium led by Sea Ltd and YTL Digital Capital Sdn Bhd; the AEON Financial Service Co Ltd, AEON Credit Service (M) Bhd and MoneyLion Inc consortium; and a consortium led by KAF Investment Bank Sdn Bhd.
BNM received a total of 29 applications from companies and partnerships across different industries, with a mix of foreign and domestic applicants.
The assessment criteria covered the character and integrity of applicants, nature and sufficiency of financial resources, soundness and feasibility of business and technology plans, as well as ability to meaningfully address financial inclusion gaps.