Pertama Digital to apply for BNM’s digital banking license

By Leandra Monteiro

Pertama Digital Berhad, a Bursa Malaysia Main Market listed investment holding company in the government technology and FinTech spaces, recently announced its aim to acquire a  digital banking license and revealed that it is currently in advanced joint venture talks with Bank Negara Malaysia.

Speaking on the progress of the license, Saify Akhtar, Director of Strategy said, “We are motivated by and aligned with the financial inclusion emphasis in the licensing framework for digital banks published by BNM in December 2020. Pertama Digital is leading a consortium of innovators and veterans, bringing to market a homegrown solution, purpose built for those Malaysians that need us most. We have been hard at work coordinating capital, talent, technology and a captive market and are proud to announce that we have a uniquely sustainable banking model that exceeds the requirements laid out in the framework. We look forward to delivering ethical financial products to underserved Malaysians and contributing to our post-pandemic recovery as a nation.”

Pertama Digital is the holding company of DAPAT Vista, a Malaysian company that specialises in digitalisation of government services. The company provides solutions in mobile and web apps such as mobile payment and messaging, business empowerment APIs, and other customised digital services. In addition, Dapat operates the government SMS gateway called mySMS and owns the MyPay and eJamin apps.

“Our vantage point gives us an edge because we have a wealth of information and lessons which have resulted in a successful and repeatable system that gets digitally and financially underserved Malaysians transacting online. Our team derives the most satisfaction from seeing our solutions adopted by people who have never made an online bank transfer before, for example. This is why we have collectively decided to pledge our resources into serving this market from here on,” added Saify.