03/02/2025

BANKING & INSURANCE 12 MONDAY | FEB 3, 2025

Maybank Islamic gets audax to drive digital transformation

Hong Leong Bank, China’s WeBank seal strategic tie-up PETALING JAYA: In a move that solidifies its position as a leading digital-first financial institution in Malaysia, Hong Leong Bank (HLB) has formed a strategic cooperation alliance with WeBank Technology Services, a subsidiary of WeBank, China’s largest digital bank. The alliance brings together two organisations committed to pushing the boundaries of financial technology and delivering exceptional customer experiences. An agreement for the strategic partnership was signed at a ceremony recently alongside WeBank Technology Services’ financial institution partners from Thailand, Indonesia and Hong Kong respectively. Through the partnership, HLB aims to elevate its operational efficiency and leverage cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) technology to ultimately deliver more personalised and impactful financial solutions to its customers and communities. The bank will leverage WeBank Technology Services’ expertise in AI to develop automation tools and applications, uplifting the productivity of its sales force and operational teams. These technology solutions would then be aimed at extending capabilities across data systems, marketing, and campaign management, improving the bank’s customer-focused offerings and financial solutions. HLB group managing director and CEO Kevin Lam, commenting on the transformative potential of this strategic collaboration, said, “As a digital-first bank, we have already made significant investments in technology to ensure we provide seamless, innovative, and personalised financial solutions. This partnership perfectly complements our strategy. It allows us to further accelerate our growth by leveraging their AI expertise to boost our operational efficiency and deliver even greater service excellence to our customers worldwide. “By combining our strengths and shared commitment to innovation, we will unlock new possibilities for our customers and redefine the banking experience. We are confident that this partnership will accelerate our progress towards becoming the best run bank in Malaysia and a leading force in the digital banking landscape.” HLB was the first bank outside of China to enable merchants to accept Weixin Pay in 2018, simplifying payments for Chinese travellers in Malaysia. Building on this momentum, HLB became the first bank in Malaysia to introduce eKYC and enable end-to end digital onboarding for customers in 2020.

deliver transformative customer experiences while navigating the complexities of syariah compliance, ensuring they remain a leader in the rapidly evolving Islamic finance landscape.” Maybank group CEO Islamic banking and Maybank Islamic CEO Datuk Muzaffar Hisham said: “Partnering with audax and AWS marks a significant milestone in our journey to build global Islamic banking leadership. This collaboration underscores our commitment to delivering customer-first solutions that are seamless, inclusive, and fully compliant with Islamic finance principles. We are confident that audax’s expertise and AWS’s secure cloud infrastructure will empower us to better serve our customers and drive growth across Southeast Asia’s rapidly expanding Islamic finance sector.” Meanwhile, AWS’s Asia emerging markets general manager for Malaysia, Peter Murray, stated: “We are excited to support audax and Maybank Islamic in this transformative initiative. By leveraging AWS’s secure, scalable, and reliable cloud infrastructure, audax is delivering innovative solutions that enable Maybank Islamic to modernise and scale their services. Together, we are helping redefine the future of digital banking in Islamic finance, ensuring customers benefit from faster, more secure, and more accessible financial services.” 0 Comprehensive Protection: Protection against loss of net takings and increased costs of working from business interruption due to fire, lightning, domestic explosion, other insured perils and/or other extended extensions. 0 Tailored For Various Trades: Covers risks within Malaysia, specifically targeted at selected trades such as restaurants, retail shops, clinics, laundries, pet shops, and mini markets. 0 Robust Coverage Limits: Flexible sum insured up to a maximum of RM5 million per location. 0 Flexible Add-Ons: Coverage extensions are available for an additional premium and include scenarios like prevention of access or public utility failures. SME BI 365 aims to simplify the complex world of business interruption insurance. Business owners would need to only provide essential information and simple calculation of sum insured, making it easier than ever for SMEs to secure the protection they need.

Audax’s scalable, cloud-native platform is designed to empower other banks and financial institutions in the region to better serve their customers. The Islamic finance market is projected to reach US$4.94 trillion (RM22 trillion) by 2025, with Southeast Asia contributing 22% of global Islamic financial assets in 2020. By leveraging audax’s expertise, Maybank Islamic is poised to not only enhance its capabilities but also set the stage for future advancements in Islamic banking across Asean and beyond. Through the collaboration, audax will enable Maybank Islamic to deliver a full suite of Islamic financial products via seamless digital channels. These include paperless, real time onboarding, efficient account manage ment, and instant access to digital banking services. Powered by AWS’s secure and scalable cloud infrastructure, audax’s platform ensures rapid, reliable, and secure deployment. This solution not only meets customer needs with agility but also ensures full compliance with Islamic finance principles, reinforcing audax’s commitment to delivering inclusive and innovative banking solutions at scale. Audax CEO Kelvin Tan said: “This collaboration with Maybank Islamic under scores our commitment to driving digital transformation in Islamic banking. audax’s platform will enable Maybank Islamic to

o Collaboration is supported by AWS as cloud provider PETALING JAYA: audax Financial Technology, a digital banking technology solutions provider backed by Standard Chartered, has been appointed by Maybank Islamic Bhd, one of the region’s leading financial institutions and the sixth largest Islamic bank in the world, as its strategic partner to spearhead the digital transformation of banking services. The collaboration, supported by AWS as the cloud provider, will deliver modern, customer centric digital banking solutions, with its first product to launch this year. As the technology partner behind Asia’s first Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) offering by a global bank, audax has demonstrated its ability to transform digital banking experiences. audax is now bringing this expertise to Maybank Islamic, the Islamic banking arm of one of Southeast Asia’s leading financial institutions, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank). Through the partnership, audax is enabling Maybank Islamic to redefine customer ex periences across its markets including Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines with innovative, inclusive, and syariah-compliant digital banking solutions. PETALING JAYA: In today’s fast-paced business landscape, safeguarding your enterprise has never been more critical. Liberty General Insurance recently introduced SME BI 365, a comprehensive and simplified business interruption insurance product tailored specifically for small and medium enterprises in Malaysia. This offering complements Liberty’s detariffed fire insurance policies such as Liberty Premier Fire & Con Loss, Fire 365 and Fire Enhanced, providing SMEs with a fortified layer of protection to support business continuity and resilience. The saying “fail to plan, plan to fail” holds true for many businesses, especially SMEs which operate in a very lean structure and are vulnerable to major losses from fires or natural disasters. In a joint report issued by the World Bank and Bank Negara Malaysia, around 75% of small businesses stated that supply chain bottlenecks are the main cause for delays in return to operations and the SMEs surveyed indicated that insurance payouts are a vital source of funding for recovery efforts. Understanding the needs of SMEs in Malaysia, Liberty’s SME BI 365 offers a simple and

Liberty’s SME BI 365 protects small, medium firms against losses from fire, natural disasters

straightforward business interruption insurance solution that helps business owners protect their loss of income after a fire, flood or any other insured event. The product is not only easy to understand, but is also designed to streamline the coverage process, allowing business owners to focus on what they do best – growing their business. “The SME BI 365 is a game changer for the SME segment of the market with its ease of calculation for the sum insured,” Liberty CEO Puneet Pasricha (Pasha) said “This will help significantly reduce the burden on business owners to figure out the best course of action or safety net needed so they can focus on expanding their business with confidence.” The key features of SME BI 365 are: 0 Simple Application: Simple calculation of the sum insured is required and simple questions to be answered for acceptance of the proposal

“Understanding the risks associated with running a business is crucial, and SME BI 365 makes this process more approachable,” explains Pasha. “Our aim is to equip SMEs with the necessary tools and support to navigate the uncertainties with more confidence.” UOB Malaysia signs landmark pact with Singapore chamber and ACCCIM

Under the MoU, UOB, SCCCI and ACCCIM aim to bolster cross-border business collaboration and tap into growth opportunities in Southeast Asia, with a special focus on Singapore, Malaysia, and the JS-SEZ (Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone).

of supporting the country’s growth for over 70 years. As Malaysia assumes the Asean Chair this year, we are committed to helping local businesses connect to opportunities in the JS-SEZ and across Asean, driving sustainable growth and strengthening Malaysia’s role in the region’s economic progress.”

and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) on Jan 16. Deputy Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Liew Chin Tong, was present at the signing ceremony in Singapore. UOB Malaysia CEO Ng Wei Wei said, “The collaboration with SCCCI and ACCCIM marks another milestone in UOB Malaysia’s journey

PETALING JAYA: In a significant step towards enhancing regional business collaboration, trade and investment, UOB Malaysia signed a landmark memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) and the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce

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