Singapore Firms Eye Malaysia Digital Bank Licenses

Five licenses are up for grabs under a new regime announced by Bank Negara Malaysia, the country’s central bank.

Singapore-based ride-hailing giant Grab and gaming technology firm Razer are exploring the feasibility of applying for a Malaysian digital bank license.

Local lenders Hong Leong Bank, Maybank, CIMB, as well as Ant Financial, Malaysian telecommunications conglomerate Axiata and BigPay, the financial services arm of low-cost airline AirAsia, are also reportedly interested in the license.

Grab, together with telecoms giant SingTel, and Razer, as the lead in a six-member consortium, were among the 21 applicants for up to five licenses to be issued under Singapore’s digital bank regime, set to be launched in 2020.

In December, Malaysia’s central bank announced that it would issue five new digital banking licenses under a proposed framework that will be finalized in the first half of 2020, which will cater to online banks offering both conventional and sharia-compliant services.

The draft proposal said the new Internet-based lenders could help close the gap in Malaysia’s underserved customers and unbanked individuals. The minimum capital requirement of RM100 million ($24.5 million) for the virtual bank’s foundational phase, which would be increased to RM300 million subsequently, is substantially lower than Singapore’s requirements.