KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 — Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has granted digital bank licences to 5 successful applicants but only 3 have launched their commercial digital banking services so far.

Quoting several sources, The Star reported that the launch of the two remaining players has been delayed due to technical issues.

It was alleged that BNM has yet to give the green light as the "digital channels” of the two digital banks have not been completed until now.

A source told The Star that the delay was due to poor planning on their respective information technology end.

The two remaining digital banks consist of a consortium of Sea Ltd and YTL Digital Capital Sdn Bhd, and another consortium led by KAF Investment Bank with Carsome, MoneyMatch and Jirnexu.

The Star’s source has shared that both digital banks face more or less similar technical issues as the earlier three digital banks.

However, the speed to rectify such issues differs.

Despite the current setbacks, the source added that BNM’s review team expects both digital banks to receive the green light to go live by the end of this year.

If the two banks require more time to get ready, they may apply for a time extension, which will also delay the launch further.

Malaysia currently has three commercially available digital banks which include GXBank, Aeon Bank and Boost Bank.

Both GXBank and Aeon Bank offer a savings account with a debit card, while Boost Bank only offers a Savings Account for now. Boost Bank is expected to issue their debit card later this month.

From what we’ve seen so far, both GXBank and Boost Bank have taken a progressive approach to rollout its service.

Meanwhile, Aeon Bank launched with debit card and DuitNow QR payment support since day one but there were some teething issues. The issues related to payment history were solved recently.

Out of the 5 licence holders, only Aeon Bank and the consortium led by KAF Investment Bank can provide Shariah-compliant digital banking products and services. Last month, GXBank announced that it has acquired over 500,000 users since its launch in November 2023. — SoyaCincau