12/01/2026

MONDAY | JAN 12, 2026

12

BANKING & INSURANCE

Labuan Re’s upgrade of core infrastructure pays dividends

Aeon Bank rolls out no-hassle Personal Financing-i PETALING JAYA: As Malaysians gear up for multiple financial commitments in recent and coming weeks and months, inclu ding year-end school holidays, back-to-school season and double festivals, Aeon Bank (M) Bhd, Malaysia’s first digital Islamic bank, is strengthening its commitment to financial in clusion by offering Personal Financing-i (PF-i). Until March, the bustling seasons present convergence of multiple spending needs for many households. Acknowledging that this might raise the need for flexible liquidity, Aeon Bank is providing a solution to address such budgetary constraints in the form of PF-i, an inclusive, hassle-free financing facility, easily accessible via its digital banking app. Optimising a risk-based pricing framework to determine a com petitive and personalised profit rate, Aeon Bank ensures that customers can seamlessly apply for PF-i online, as long as they are Malaysian citizens aged 18 to 55, with a minimum monthly gross income of RM2,500, be they salaried employees or self-em ployed individuals, as well as gig economy workers. Aligned with syariah banking principles, PF-i offers financing facility from RM1,000 up to RM100,000 with flexible tenure options ranging from three to 84 months, allowing for repayments tailored to individual budget needs. A flat profit rate starting from 3.88% per annum and a nominal wakalah fee of RM1 is applicable upon acceptance. The entire process, from appli cation to fund disbursement, is managed online via the Aeon Bank app. PF-i enables Malaysians to access a syariah-compliant financing facility to ease their needs.

PETALING Labuan Reinsurance (L) Ltd (Labuan Re) has completed a significant upgrade of its core infrastructure, reinforcing its commitment to resilience, continuity and long-term readiness in an in creasingly complex global insurance environment. Labuan Re chief information officer Patrick Wong ( pic ) said ensuring uninterrupted service despite unforeseen circumstances is central to maintaining trust across international markets, particularly for institutions that operate at the systemic level of financial risk management. He said with more than three decades of business-to-business operations, Labuan Re has historically prioritised proven, stable platforms over frequent technological change. “However, evolving industry demands and the need to support global growth prompted the company to reassess its infrastructure strategy. The recent relocation of Labuan Re’s data centre from Kuala Lumpur to Cyberjaya created a timely oppor tunity to modernise systems suppor ting its most critical workloads. “Rather than pursuing incremental change, the company approached the transition as a strategic upgrade aligned with future operational and regulatory requirements.” Wong noted that the infrastructure upgrade has delivered tangible improvements in reliability, workflow efficiency and scalability, streng thening Labuan Re’s ability to sup port complex reinsurance operations across borders. By reassessing long-standing tech nology choices during the migration, the company demonstrated a willing o Tangible improvements in reliability, workflow efficiency and scalability JAYA:

cross-border spending and reinforce Malaysia’s position as one of the top travel destinations amongst foreign tourists. Weixin Pay assistant regional director, Southeast Asia, David Chong said, “Malaysia has become one of the key focus markets for the pro gramme’s expansion, driven by strong demand from local businesses looking to reach Chinese travellers through digital-first channels. “Weixin Pay is actively streng thening our ecosystem in Malaysia – from payment innovation to merchant enablement – and this collaboration with CIMB marks an important milestone in the journey.” From Jan 1, 2026, participating merchants will receive a dedicated merchant page within the Weixin Pay’s ecosystem to showcase their “For Labuan Re, the successful migration represents more than a technical achievement. It demon strates how a carefully executed infrastructure modernisation can directly enhance performance and scalability in a reinsurance environ ment where accuracy, speed and reliability are essential. “The upgrade positions the company to support its business partners better and adapt to the increasing data and processing demands shaping the global insu rance and reinsurance industry,” Wong said. Labuan Re is now confident enough in its AMD migration that it is evangelising the technology to its peers. “The financial services industry has a psychological barrier about moving to something that is not proven. They will do a test run first, and if within the next few years everything is okay, then they’ll slowly migrate,” Wong said. However, he said, Labuan Re’s experience with the upgraded platform has reinforced its confi dence in the robustness of the new infrastructure supporting its opera tions. “As a reinsurance institution, the company operates under stringent service-level requirements and de mands consistently high availability across its systems. Our SLA with our reseller is stringent, and our infra structure must deliver high availability.” Beyond the performance im provements, the upgrade has met Labuan Re’s expectations for relia bility and operational resilience. Wong said the platform has proven well-suited to support future growth and data-intensive work-loads, positioning Labuan Re with an infrastructure that is aligned with the growing demands of the insurance and reinsurance industry.

ness to adapt to remain competitive and future-ready while maintaining the high levels of stability expected of a reinsurance institution, he said. “This milestone reflects a broader shift within the insurance and rein surance industry, where leading institutions are balancing caution with innovation to ensure they remain robust in the face of evolving risks. For Labuan Re, the completed upgrade underscores its position as a forward-looking reinsurer – one that continues to invest in infrastructure capable of supporting its role in the global insurance ecosystem for years to come,” said Wong. Labuan Re’s core infrastructure upgrade plans were guided by a combination of public benchmark tests, engagements with AMD’s Malaysia team, and insights drawn from local market adoption. Wong said similar platforms had already been successfully imple mented in the country, and that “most of the data centres in Malaysia were already using AMD for shared services”. The company then undertook a structured evaluation based on its operational profile, in which about 80% of workloads were online and the remainder support batch processing. This analysis reinforced the suitability of the upgrade for Labuan Re’s environment. “Our main workload is a reinsurance transactional database

and an intranet portal for claims underwriters. Most of our systems support back-office operations,” Wong explained. To support the infrastructure upgrade, Labuan Re engaged several Tier 1 system integrators before appointing HPE as its implement ation partner. Following the appointment, the teams worked closely to identify the most effective system configuration aligned with the company’s opera tional priorities. At the core of the initiative was a clear business objective: to address performance constraints within the existing environment and signifi cantly shorten processing times for critical workloads. The upgrade delivered results that exceeded expectations. Batch-pro cessing times were reduced drama tically, enabling previously lengthy jobs to be completed in a fraction of the time. Performance gains were also recorded across a broad range of core systems, including underwriting, reporting and financial analysis functions that underpin Labuan Re’s daily operations. These improvements translated into faster insights, more responsive workflow and greater operational efficiency across the organisation. Through the programme, merchants gain access to a platform that is familiar to Chinese consumers, making it easier for travellers to discover, engage and transact seamlessly – even before arriving in Malaysia. “This partnership reinforces our mission to deliver connectivity, convenience and commercial growth for businesses nationwide,”said Cheong. According to a report by the Ministry of Tourism, Malaysia received nearly 1.8 million tourists from China during the first five months of 2025, and this number is expected to increase. CIMB’s collaboration with Weixin Pay coincides with peak travel seasons for Chinese visitors, ensuring merchants are well-positioned to capture demand during Malaysia’s busiest inbound periods. In tandem with Visit Malaysia 2026, the partnership will further amplify

CIMB works with WeChat Pay to boost M’sian merchants’ visibility in China PETALING JAYA: CIMB Bank Bhd and CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd (collectively CIMB) is collaborating with Weixin Pay, more well known as WeChat Pay, through a dedicated solution, Weixin Mini Programme to boost CIMB affiliated merchants’ businesses. showcase offerings digitally, engage Chinese travellers before arrival to the country and facilitate in-store transactions via DuitNow QR. This end to-end ecosystem creates convenience for travellers and a competitive edge for Malaysian merchants, especially in sectors such as retail, food and beverage, and hospitality. opportunities for products and services. They will benefit from high visibility within its ecosystem, location-based discovery, promotional campaigns, and insights into their incremental traffic and purchase intent, driven by pre-trip and in-destination search trends. Participating merchants will

This initiative marks a step forward in enabling seamless cross-border payments, enhancing Malaysian merchants’ visibility and empowering businesses to tap into the digital savvy and inbound Chinese tourists. The collaboration reflects CIMB’s commitment to strengthen cross border transactions enabling local merchants to offer a smooth and trusted payment experience for Chinese consumers using Weixin Pay, one of China’s most widely adopted payment platforms. By integrating the programme and Weixin Pay, merchants in Malaysia can

overcome common barriers such as high integration costs, complex technical requirements, and limited visibility to Chinese consumers through a streamlined, cost-efficient onboarding process that eliminates complicated integration. They will also receive exclusive exchange rates, making cross-border transactions more affordable and seamless. From micro, small and medium enterprises to major retail desti nations, the programme empowers businesses to compete effectively in a digital-first regional marketplace.

Banking & Finance CIMB consumer banking Malaysia head Daniel Cheong said, “This collaboration underscores CIMB’s drive to advancing cross-border con nectivity and creating opportunities that uplift communities and busi nesses, in line with our purpose of ‘Advancing Customers and Society’.” By leveraging CIMB’s digital capabilities with Weixin Pay’s ex tensive global reach, they are enabling merchants to reach high value travellers and participate more fully in the digital economy, he said.

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