KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 3): Twenty-eight years ago, on Merdeka Day in 1994, a new Malaysian bank — Allied Bank — was born, and subsequently renamed PhileoAllied Bank. The owners were faced with a question: How to succeed in a challenging environment?

The banking industry in Malaysia was far more vibrant and dynamic in those days. There were 36 commercial banks, 39 finance companies and 12 merchant banks in operation. Needless to say, it was a highly competitive environment.

PhileoAllied Bank was a new start-up, without branch networks and history. The bank felt it was obvious that it had to employ the latest technology — to overcome the lack of branches, to facilitate conveniences, to lower operating costs, and to enable product innovations and deliveries. At the time, the internet revolution was just taking off.

It came to be that in June 1995, Phileo launched PALDIRECT, the first online platform that enabled stock trading transactions, payments, and the execution of other banking services, first via a PC, and then through mobile phones.

Not only were they popular with individuals, but they were soon installed at coffee shops and minimarkets.

Read more about the bank’s interesting journey as one of the first, if not THE FIRST, digital banks in the world, in the Tong’s Portfolio column in the Sept 5 issue of The Edge Malaysia weekly.

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's AppStore and Androids' Google Play.