Malaysia Fintech Regulatory Developments - September 2017

Four fintech companies under regulatory sandbox

Bank Negara Malaysia recently announced four fintech companies under its sandbox in June 2017. These companies are GetCover Sdn Bhd, GoBear Ltd, MoneyMatch Sdn Bhd, WorldRemit Ltd. GoBear and GetCover are financial advisors and insurance aggregator platforms, while MoneyMatch and WorldRemit offer money transfer and remittance services. According to the central bank’s recent announcement, these four companies have been approved to launch commercial services within certain limits set by the central bank.

Bank Negara to open up national payment platform to non-bank entities

In August 2017, Malaysian Electronic Clearing Corp Sdn Bhd (MyClear) merged with Malaysian Electronic Payment System Sdn Bhd (MEPS) to form Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet). In future, Bank Negara which is Malaysia’s central bank will be opening up the payment business to non-bank players such as telcos and mobile providers, in expanding the banking services and fintech sectors.