Friday 26 Apr 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (July 1): AirAsia Group Bhd’s e-wallet unit Big Pay is partnering Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd (MIDF) in a consortium to apply for Malaysia’s digital banking licence.

Other partners are Ikhlas Capital Master Fund Pte Ltd — a private equity firm partly owned by former banker Datuk Seri Nazir Razak — and a foreign conglomerate with fintech expertise, AirAsia said in its filing.

AirAsia’s 89.29% unit Big Pay Pte Ltd is in the consortium through wholly-owned unit BigPay Capital Sdn Bhd. An application has been submitted to Bank Negara Malaysia, AirAsia said.

In a statement, BigPay CEO and founder Salim Dhanani said the digital banking licence would allow BigPay to provide individuals and micro SMEs with full-fledged financial services that are simple, accessible and come with transparent fees.

“BigPay Bank will allow us to execute deeper on our mission to build a connected financial future for Malaysian consumers and entrepreneurs,” Salim said.

The consortium joins dozens of other groups applying for one of five digital banking licences to be issued here by the first quarter of next year.

Shares of AirAsia fell 1.5 sen or 1.69% to close at 87.5 sen today, valuing the group at RM3.41 billion.

Edited ByTan Choe Choe
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