AppsFlyer, a digital marketing attribution startup with global presence, announces today that it has received a total of US$210 million in Series D funding from New York-based growth equity firm General Atlantic. AppsFlyer also announces the opening of its seventh Asia Pacific office in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Alex Crisses, Managing Director at General Atlantic, and Anton Levy, Co-President and Global Head of Technology, have joined AppsFlyer’s Board of Directors.

This investment freshly comes three years after AppsFlyer’s Series C funding round, bringing the company’s total funding to US$294 million.

The company said that it will use the funding to enhance its open platform for third-party developers, as well as benefiting data-driven marketers in mobile-first.

Also Read: What makes Singapore the marketing hub of Southeast Asia

“This year, we predict that Asia Pacific (APAC) will hold the world’s largest quantity of app-install ad spend at US$30 billion. With massive volume and scale in this mobile-first region, marketers will be looking even harder into how they can better optimise their marketing budgets. There is also the imminent danger of fraud exposure for brands and users alike, where sadly, APAC leads in the world’s fastest fraud rate-growth at 60 per cent higher than the global average,” said AppsFlyer’s APAC President and Managing Director, Ronen Mense.

“This funding will go into strengthening our open platform for partners and third-party developers, allowing them the flexibility to add their custom solutions on top of ours, so they grow and protect their businesses in a highly competitive marketplace like APAC,” he continued.

Alex Crisses, Managing Director, General Atlantic, said: “Attribution is becoming the core of the marketing tech stack. AppsFlyer’s commitment to being independent, unbiased, and representing the marketer’s interests has significant potential to capture additional opportunity in the market.”

AppsFlyer offers a suite of comprehensive measurement and analytics solutions that are around privacy by design. It seeks to “empowers marketers to grow their business and innovate”.

General Atlantic’s APAC portfolios include Indonesia’s edtech Ruangguru to India’s healthtech Rubicon Research.

Also Read: 10 digital marketing strategies for startups

Anton Levy, Co-President and Global Head of Technology, General Atlantic, added: “AppsFlyer’s scale enables it to provide accurate attribution data and ad-fraud protection, saving millions for advertisers. At the same time, the company has the end-user in mind every step of the way and a mindset of privacy by design and security first right when data privacy becomes one of the primary concerns facing brands.”

AppsFlyer’ global customers include brands such as Gojek, Agoda, Tokopedia, SEA Group (Shopee & Garena), HBO, Tencent, and Nike. Their existing investors are Qumra Capital, Goldman Sachs Growth, Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners (DTCP), Pitango Venture Capital, and Magma Venture Partners who also participated in this round.
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A staple in the annual Echelon Asia Summit, the Echelon Roadshow is back this coming 2020 to spice things up before the big day

As some of the readers may already know, e27 annually hosts the Echelon Asia Summit — a grand tech event that gathers as much as 12,000 people from all over the world to celebrate innovation and ideas. The event boasts a plethora of features including talks, networking opportunities, matchmaking rounds, pitching competitions, exhibitions, and many more.

As far as tradition goes, the Echelon Asia Summit is a culmination of a series of roadshow stops for Echelon. Dubbed as the Echelon Roadshow, these series of stops are the perfect stepping stones for any startup founder to kick-start their own respective Echelon journeys.

As such, Echelon Roadshow is back this coming 2020 to provide emerging and established startups to get to know their own local startup ecosystems and prepare them for the larger Echelon Asia Summit happening in Singapore.

 For many startups, this is the perfect opportunity to get a taste of the Echelon experience, test their networking skills, brush up on how to pitch their ideas to a large audience of important stakeholders, and ultimately dazzle the crowd.

More importantly, each roadshow stop will come with its own series of talks unique to the ecosystem of the country it is situated in, providing unique insights and updated trends that tackle the very community of startups that you belong to. Through this, you can learn from our speakers made up of local tech founders and stakeholders during panel discussions.

The TOP100 country qualifiers will also be determined at each Echelon Roadshow stops. Startups who join the programme will go on private pitching sessions on the day of the roadshow itself, where they get the chance to win over our judges and slither through to the semi-finals.

Other participants who will not be pitching for the country qualifiers will also be the first to know which local startups will be pitching at the coveted TOP100 stage happening at the Echelon Asia Summit in Singapore.

First six cities for Echelon Roadshow 2020

We kick things off in 2020 with six major stops for Echelon Roadshow, trailing six different Southeast Asian countries that begin in Vietnam, onward to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Singapore.

The first six Echelon Roadshow 2020 stops are as follows:

1.) Kuala Lumpur – 18 February 2020, 5PM – 8PM

2.) Ho Chi Minh – 20 February 2020, 5PM – 8PM

3.) Bangkok – 27 February 2020, 5PM – 8PM

4.) Manila – 10 March 2020, 5PM – 8PM

5.) Jakarta – 12 March 2020, 5PM – 8PM

6.) Singapore – 7 April 2020, 5PM – 8PM

All venues are yet to be finalised so check back as we announce the venue for each of our Echelon Roadshow stops. You may also check back soon as more stops will be added to the list in the coming months.

Be a part of Echelon Roadshow 2020

As an important feature of the annual Echelon Asia Summit, Echelon Roadshow 2020 is a key experience for those who are keen on being part of the summit. As such, we are inviting you to be a part of our roadshow stops this coming 2020. Interested participants may learn more about the event and RSVP for their desired cities here.

In addition, the TOP100 APAC is a programme organised by e27 that empowers insights, connections, talent, and funding opportunities for early-stage tech startups in Asia. The programme is currently accepting applications and will run until Echelon Asia Summit 2020. If you’re interested in joining the 2020 edition of TOP100 APAC, you may apply here.

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Malaysian tech startup StoreHub has raised US$8.9 million in a Series A+ funding round led by its existing investor Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, with participation from Accord Ventures and a private family office. 

The company had previously raised US$5.1 million in its Series A round, bringing its total raised funding to US$14 million.

The newly added capital will be used to support “aggressive growth and expansion” within Southeast Asia’s growing e-commerce industry.

Co-founder of StoreHub, Wai Hong Fong, believes that e-commerce will continue to grow in the future, as the region experiences a shift driven primarily by technology. 

“As consumers now all have smartphones in their hands, they are becoming more informed and have expectations of delivery times and service standards. What we’re seeing is that the businesses that are thriving are embracing technology to automate the management and growth of their stores, while those that don’t are struggling to cope with the drastic changes in consumer behaviour,” he asserts.

Also Read: Malaysian startup StoreHub raises US$850K to enable retail management via iPad

StoreHub is a cloud-based platform which enables restaurants and retail entrepreneurs across Southeast Asia to “automate the growth of their revenue and customer base”, thus helping clients to improve the efficiency of their operating system. 

According to the co-founders, the company did not start off as an operating system and was first a tablet-based POS provider. However, now the startup has grown from 3,000 to over 13,000 stores in Southeast Asia, with transactional growth from US$269 million to US$1.2 billion to date.

“Investors really liked our strong unit economics and recurring revenue model which are key to our sustainable growth and ability to reach profitability very quickly when we want to,” said Wai Hong Fong.

Their prime investor Vertex Ventures believes that StoreHub can become a major player in SEA’s e-commerce and retail market. 

“Their rapidly growing user base and high retention rate are strong indicators of the value in StoreHub’s platform. We’re excited to work with StoreHub to help businesses level up and stay relevant in this digital economy age,” said Chua Joo Hock, Managing Partner at Vertex Ventures SEA & India.

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Image Credit:  StoreHub

 

 

 

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For nearly two centuries, India attributed to around 30 per cent of the global economy.

As a country, we have already missed out on the First Industrial Revolution–a transformative shift to new manufacturing processes–something that the US and Europe have benefitted from. Another setback that India witnessed was the Second Industrial Revolution–the upsurge in the sectors of energy and power, steel, and petroleum–that our nation adopted nearly four decades later.

While we have somehow learned from past mistakes, we have figured out how to capitalise on during the Digital Revolution or the Third Industrial Revolution.

While we were not truly able to capitalise on architecture and innovation, we definitely became a leading hub for global support in the digital space.

In a 2018 global survey by The Pew Research Center titled, ‘The Public Opinion of India’, around 75 per cent of respondents noted that the nation has gained significance rapidly on the global platform. The time is essentially here.

At the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2018 in Davos, Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed how India will not fall behind by its ambitions of hard economic power but also digital power. The truth is that major tech giants such as MasterCard, Microsoft, Google, IMF, and more are today directed globally by Indians.

Also Read: Sequoia India, EDBI co-lead US$4M funding in eko.ai

Innovation at its forefront

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is bridging the gap between what was thought possible and impossible, connecting the technological, digital and even physical spheres.

India is the fourth-largest app economy globally, and also the real reason behind Indians’ robust digital footprint over practically all social media platforms. One classic case that proves this is the famous T-Series versus PewDiePie saga that went in favour of the music production company, holding a major part in showing that we are leading with respect to the global pioneers.

With the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0, India has witnessed tremendous growth in the technology sector with advances like artificial intelligence (AI), IoT, 5G technology, robotics, autonomous mobility, quantum computing, and nanotechnology, among others.

For India, Industry 4.0 opens new avenues to catapult several stages of innovation, moving forward on its journey towards becoming a developed economy far ahead of its peers. From various perspectives, this shift will be a great leveler.

Technologies being developed in India will be the major contributor to drive the growth of economy and commerce across the world.

Contributing more to this growth is the launch and explosion of cheap data sets in India–JIO. The launch of JIO in India will always be regarded as the source from which the Fourth (and subsequently, the Fifth) Revolution sprung.

Also read: 5 advantages of starting your business in India

Inexpensive internet services and an upsurge in native device manufacturers have ensured that individuals all over the nation have access to extraordinary digital infrastructure, resulting in a boundless economic growth.

Another major contributor to India’s growth is the advances in space technology, including ISRO’s incessant presence in the news with the successful launch of Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan.

Best of all, it isn’t just ISRO but even Indian commerce, for example, UFLEX which makes films for ISRO, that have profited by the technological strides that our country has rapidly taken.

In the previous decade, advances in cloud, analytics, and digital space had disrupted IT operations, business models, and markets. Even though these technologies are not the current trend, clearly they have shaped the world that we live in today.

It is in this space the world will now turn and look to India to lead the path, as innovation turns into the substratum for the superstructure that will be global growth, in the future.

Investments and innovation drive digital growth

With support from government and legislative bodies, domestic and foreign investments can assist India to launch as the next global innovator. As far as foreign investment is considered, respondents believe that India’s impact is set to surge.

In a recent survey by law firm Baker McKenzie, commentators highlight the positivity about India’s ability to keep up financial growth and development.

Also Read: China still rules, but will India emulate as a top tech frontier?

With the escalating US-China trade tensions, India is ostensibly turning into an increasingly attractive alternative. Also, increasing the talented workforce could place India in a good position to contend with China for global dominance.

While investors far and wide have previously been reluctant about putting resources in Indian organisations because the nation was ranked as high risk, India is currently home to a young, vibrant startup landscape, with having received more than US$33.4 billion in funding through foreign direct investment.

Domestic investment, on the other hand, is also on the rise, as Indian organizations see through the opportunities presented by the nation’s exponential digital shift.

Looking ahead

Throughout the years, India has figured out how to overcome different complexities, including the lack of proper infrastructure, weak financial conditions, and inadequacies within the system, along with social and cultural hindrances.

India has the settings and tools necessary to be in the leading position on the global technology stage, however, it needs to conquer a few adversities in order to come to its full potential. Creating the right regulatory infrastructure and financial support from foreign investors together with offering customised training programs and increasing the talented workforce would drive successful digital growth. The path to being a global pioneer in the innovation and technology space is not forthright, not without tough competition from rivals, but India is headed to becoming a real contender.

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Motivated employees can do a lot for a business. For example, employees are often more engaged with their workplace when motivated, and that can result in better productivity.

On the other hand, unmotivated employees can result in lost productivity, which may impact profits. Therefore, increasing employee engagement has been a target for many companies looking to boost profits –a move that has become even more relevant in Southeast Asian startup ecosystem today. Thankfully, there are some things companies can do to increase motivation through employee engagement.

Check out these six tips to get started. 

Seminar

Bringing in a speaker can be a great way to improve employee morale. Many people like when their employers bring in keynote speakers that help them learn a new skill, provide entertainment or supply motivation.

Speakers can be easily integrated into company gatherings such as product launches, company update events, and annual conferences. Plus, they provide a new perspective that may help employees refresh their perspective. When an employee returns to work refreshed, they may see an uptick in their productivity. 

Also Read: Want insanely motivated employees? Get rid of these 3 common myths

Encourage employee communication 

Improving communication between employees can result in a more pleasant workplace. Efficient communication helps employee operations run more smoothly, which can have a positive impact on productivity levels.

When things run smoothly in the workplace, there is less conflict, so everyone can focus better on the tasks at hand. Then, if a conflict does arise, employees may be better equipped to handle the problem because there are used to talking with each other to solve problems.  

Establish an open-door policy

Developing trust between managers and employees can create a motivating environment. Maintaining an open-door policy is often used to build that trust.

An open-door policy basically states that the manager’s door is open to any employee who wants to talk. Sometimes, the policy is used as a substitute for a grievance system, but it can be much more than that. It can help solve problems and create bonds that prevent employee turnover.

There may even be fewer grievances to report because overall communication is more frequent and honest. 

Positive vibes

Managers who recognise when employees are successful can result in better production in the workplace. It is common for employees to receive evaluations about their work, but performance feedback that is only centred around what can be improved may be perceived as negative by some employees.

However, if they are also recognised for excelling, it can help frame the constructive criticism in a more positive way. Also, try to learn whether an employee prefers to receive positive feedback one-on-one or in a team meeting. 

Also Read: 7 effective ways to motivate employees

Consider work-life balance

Most employees don’t live to work, they work to live. Employers should understand that work-life balance is important to their employees because it has a role in the overall quality of life.

How much time they spend at work, travelling to work or working off the clock can impact things such as how much time they can spend with family, their sleep habits or their immune system. Offering flexible scheduling may be a good way to help employees create a balance for themselves. 

Create incentives

Another thing employers might consider is creating incentives for their employees. Wages are a good place to start, but incentives like upward mobility, stock options or retirement plans can motivate employees to stay with the company longer and be more productive on the job.

Additional incentives can include sales percentages, continuing education or wage bonuses. Many of these incentives are the ways some of the world’s top companies maintain productivity and profits. 

When boiled down to the basics, motivating employees means it is possible to improve productivity. What is more, better production can result in more revenue. It is important to note, though, that employees must be in a positive work environment to be motivated in the first place.

Communication, compassion, and incentives go a long way in building a good company culture where employees and management can grow together. Using these tips may help create that environment. 

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Jakarta-based developer school Hacktiv8 today announced that it has raised a US$3 Million Pre-A series round led by East Ventures with participation from Sovereign’s Capital, SMDV, Skystar Capital, Convergence Ventures, RMKB Ventures, Prasetia, and Everhaus.

Hacktiv8 plans to use this newly acquired funds to build more schools and offer what they dubbed as the first Income Share Agreement (ISA) programme in Indonesia, an alternative to traditional student loans.

An ISA contract allows students to raise the money they need to pay for their education in exchange for a percentage of their future post-graduation income. ISA provides a unique “profit-sharing” approach that aligns institutions with getting their graduates hired.

With ISA, students are allowed to pay back money if they earn over a certain amount, and those who are successful will never pay back more than a capped limit. This means that the incentives are aligned between the student and the institution.

“If our graduates get a well-paying job, we will earn a good return on our investment,” said Ronald Ishak, CEO of Hacktiv8.

Also Read: Facebook launches “hangout spot” for startup, developer communities in Jakarta

Started in 2016 by co-founders Ronald Ishak and Riza Fahmi, Hacktiv8 provides a solution to turn absolute beginners into job-ready web developers in 12 intensive weeks.

As both experienced frustrations of developer poaching practice that is rampant among tech companies at that time, Ishak and Fahmi came up with the programme that helps students learn JavaScript, Node.js, Vue.js, and Facebook’s React framework through hundreds of hands-on lab exercises.

Hacktiv8 offers a “Bootcamp” model that lets students spend upwards of 10 to 12-hour days, five to six days a week, for 12-18 weeks. This model is claimed to enable only the best participants to graduate from the programme.

It claims to have close to 8,000 applicants, but only “a portion” is able to be admitted as they put forward quality.

The company also notes that on average, job-seeking graduates at Hacktiv8 are commonly offered multiple jobs offers with an average salary of IDR11 million (US$900) gross within two to three weeks after graduating.

It also stated that graduates with honours distinctions are commonly hired within days of completing the programme, as corroborated through CIRR, an international student-outcomes reporting group that audits outcomes of code-schools globally, in which Hacktiv8 is the first participating school in Asia.

Also Read: Alibaba, Facebook co-founders back East Ventures’s new US$75M fund focused on Indonesia

Hacktiv8 works with 250 hiring partners who have signed agreements to employ its graduates, as well as participate in a curriculum advisory board to help keep Hacktiv8’s curriculum relevant and up to date. Hiring partners include Tokopedia, Gojek, Bukalapak, Midtrans, Payfazz, Xendit, and KoinWorks.

For scholarships, the company partners with big corporations such as CIMB Niaga, Hana Bank, and Siloam.

According to a survey by McKinsey in 2018, 15 from 20 Indonesia tech company executives reported struggling in hiring local tech talent, while 10 of them having trouble retaining local tech talent.

Google and Temasek projected there will be around 200,000 skilled professionals employed in Southeast Asia’s internet economy by 2025. Currently, this gap is still filled by senior professionals from banks, retailers, and global technology companies.

Willson Cuaca, Managing Partner of East Ventures explained​, “Indonesia is one of the countries with a low number of engineers per million population. Not only because Indonesia has a large population, but Indonesia produces a small number of STEM-related programme graduates.”

“To fill the talent gap of Indonesia’s digital economy, developer bootcamp such as Hacktiv8 is a quick solution that addresses the problem and works closely with all industry players for the placement,” Cuaca continued.

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Image Credit: Hacktiv8

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Nimest aims to bring the world closer and erase time differences. Using an app available in their cellphone, the traveller will be able to talk and interact with historical characters. As they walk through their destination, they’ll be invited to learn more about the destination! This will be made by mixing one of the ancient forms (storytelling, which is the foundation of mankind) and the most advanced tools in our time such as 3D and augmented reality.

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This article was first published on nfinitiv.

Image Credit: Sunyu Kim on Unsplash

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I realised 2019 was an important year for me, although I didn’t know this until about two weeks ago.

A successful entrepreneur whom I met at an event in Bahrain recently told me: “I can always start all over again,” as we were overlooking a golf course in the middle of the night. We were talking about what makes relationships work, what is essential in life, and our definition of success.

It all boiled down to two main things.

First and most important is trust. Trust in yourself and trust in others. It took me a while to understand why he was saying that he can start all over again. He was talking about how much trust he has in himself. If everything goes to shit tomorrow, I can always start over and build something new again.

Second, is impact. His comments showed me that he’s not obsessed with success, but that’s it’s more important to put his all into creating great things with people he trusts.

How is this important to you as a founder and to me as a venture capitalist? 2019 for me has been a pivotal year.

At 44 years, it never ceases to amaze me how much I still need to learn. I have used a personal mentor earlier in 2019 to work on insecurities, focus, and improving work structure.

In sports, I am used to working with a coach. It took a long time for me to decide to work with a business coach. In the end, I am glad I did.

Also Read: Today’s top tech news: Edtech firm Byju’s raises US$200M; Ovo hits 1B transactions in 2019

Working with a coach helped me learn to trust in my abilities and feel confident to voice my opinion. My coach showed me how to build my framework for decision-making and stick to my philosophy in difficult times.

My key takeaways from 2019 were:

Show up

We all know that feeling when you initially said ‘yes’ to a meeting or a dinner, but as it approaches, you’re dreading to go. Nothing wrong with that. It’s human nature. Instead of cancelling the meetup, just go.

You will create a habit of “showing up.” Showing up for me is making an appointment and sticking to it and being responsive. The most successful and busiest people I know always manage to respond fast to email or be on time for every meeting they attend.

When I ask how they handle this, the usual answer I get is that it is part of their work ethics to show up.

Be relentless

The meaning of relentless is unceasingly intense. It implies determination and focus (says Oxford and vocabulary.com). The year 2019 has been one of the busiest professionally; I also decided to join my second Ironman 70.3 in Hawaii and prepare for three Ironman 70.3 races in 2020.

I made a big mental switch in 2019. If I commit to anything, I commit 1,000 per cent, and I won’t let go until it’s finished, or I need to update my objectives. It’s intense, and to be honest, it’s quite exhausting as well, but the pleasure of making progress is more significant.

Relentlessness also forces you to focus more and say no to random disturbances.

Also Read: These later stage funding rounds of December are the perfect closure to the year 2019

Stick to your strategy

Days, when your plans don’t work out, are the toughest. Sometimes your day is full of wrong decisions and outcomes. You might get insecure about your approach or need outside validation that you’re still on the right track.

The easiest thing to do on those days is to throw everything overboard and start something new or give up and tell yourself it didn’t work out. The biggest favour you can do yourself is to stick to your original strategy (unless clear feedback and data tell you to tweak the plan).

Why is this so important? It takes time for a strategy to come to fruition. Beginning of the year, we launched a new project within our firm. Halfway through the year, it wasn’t easy to convince our stakeholders that the timing for this project was right, coming out of a busy 2018.

Towards the end of the year, the project gained strong momentum, giving the team new energy. I have seen it with this project, but looking back, I have seen this happen over and over again.

Give your strategy a chance, build a case for your strategy, work on the right arguments and gather data to support your choices. But most importantly, don’t let the first, second, and third disappointment catch you off guard.

Face issues head-on

The toughest habit to build is to get up in the morning and pick up the most complicated problem to solve first. It’s such an open door. As a founder, leaving urgent or complex issues outstanding can seriously hurt your business. In the back of our heads, we know this, but it’s tough to put it in practice.

Also Read: e27 community: 10 most popular contributions of 2019

Cleaning up a toxic environment in the team, a client issue that needs solving, or responding to shareholders’ questions. I have learned earlier this year; it doesn’t matter how complex the problem is, it matters which framework you use and your understanding of the urgency. Managing urgency is different for everyone, but one effective practice helped me.

Every morning I write down what my intended outcome for the day needs to be and what I need to do to get there. Let me be clear. The day never ends the way I planned it, but this simple writing exercise helps me to visualise the biggest challenges for the day.

For the framework, I use the structure I worked on with my coach.

For anything complex I need to solve or work on, I ask myself these questions:

• How do I extract value and deliver returns for my counterpart
• Is there alignment with our strategy and policies
• How do I slow down to generate long term growth
• What do I need to do, to protect the downside

Say no and be transparent about it

It remains difficult saying no when people ask for help. Mainly when you’re used to helping others out. The intention is not to speak to anyone that asks for help but to be more critical on me.

Anytime someone asks for help, I ask myself first if I can help, if I can honestly make time and if someone is better off with or without my help. In the past year, I have learned that giving direction and let others figure things out for themselves is stronger than blindly trying to help everyone.

It is as simple as saying: “have you tried this yet?” You don’t have to be everything to everyone.

Also Read: From coffee to dentistry: The top 10 funding news that rocked the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem in 2019

Check-in on health

Everyone will have their take on health. There is no one right away to approach it. I decided to stop drinking for the last three months of 2019. Why? I spend a significant amount of my professional time on an aeroplane.

Combined with long working hours, my desire to stay fit, triathlons, family life (two kids), and spending time with friends, I felt I needed to change something before I wore my body and mind out. Quitting with alcohol seemed like a quick win, and after 2.5 months, it has indeed made me feel much better.

During the day, I feel much sharper, and it’s easier to focus. I also sleep a lot better; more hours and feel rested. Not drinking helped me recover faster after my runs or a long-haul flight. There is, however, a downside, though. Socially it’s not entirely accepted not to imbibe. In the last few months, I have had to explain myself for not drinking. Or people try to convince you to have a drink and not be such a weakling. The best I’ve heard is: “One drink doesn’t make much difference.” It makes all the difference to me; I am not about to break this promise to myself.

This was from 2019, and I hope my lessons help you give some insights for 2020.

We’re at the end of this millennium’s teens, how will you start the new decade?

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

Join our e27 Telegram group, or like the e27 Facebook page.

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A few months after Singapore’s announced in June 2019 the guidelines for the new digital banks (Digital Full Bank and Digital Wholesale Bank) licences, Malaysia also made public the requirements for the digital bank licences in December 2019.

As per the guidelines, Malaysia will issue up to five licences. Licensed banks and Islamic banks may apply in a joint venture with new players. (Foreign companies can also apply, but preference will be accorded to the application, in which the controlling equity interest in the proposed digital bank resides with Malaysians.)

The digital banks in Malaysia are expected to kickstart in the first half of this year.

Also Read: Why Kubia is not in a rush to apply for Singapore’s digital bank license

According to fintech experts, a new digital bank licence will enable non-traditional financial services players to participate in areas where tech is the focus to be an enabler. Existing fintech players can look at maturing their product offerings and expand further with the new license. For those who are not in the fintech field today can look now enter with clear guidelines.

For the new digital banks, the unbanked and underbanked population (SMEs and individuals) are the key target market. With this population joining the digital economy, it will herald a new era in the fintech space.

But a moot question remains. How are the new banks going to affect the traditional brick-and-mortar banks? Will the customers ditch their existing banks for the new entrants, effectively making them redundant?

e27 spoke to a few fintech experts for their opinions.

“There is now a new space where the digital bank will serve in areas that the traditional banks do not necessarily want to serve. There is a collaborative opportunity here for both existing and new entrants to take the financial services industry to a new level,” said Jasmine N, former CEO of Razer Fintech, which has applied for a digital full-bank licence in Singapore.

However, there is always a possibility that traditional banks, which are averse to innovation, will disappear. “There is a danger that the new digital banks will replace the old ones. But I believe that the banks which work to meet their customers’ requirements will continue to change and transform,” she added.

Adrian Yap echoed Jasmine’s views, adding the introduction of new players into the digital banking landscape would give the much-needed fuel that that little flame needs.

“The new entrants backed with capital and talent without the shackles of legacy infrastructure will completely change the way we experience banking in the next couple of years. My gut feeling tells me that customers will be very willing to ditch their existing banks for the new entrants,” said Yap, CEO of MoneyMatch, a cross-border money transfer platform in Malaysia.

The new entrants will hit the ground running with more unique and innovative ways to provide financial services to customers, and existing banks will try to play catch-up with their modest attempts at digital banking, he added.

“I do see that banks eventually give up in this digital race and focusing solely on providing the pipes for fintech players and other new digital banks to process transactions. I see the role of banks evolving in the future by shrinking in functionality but not in its importance. Banks will always have a role to play in our ecosystem and economy just not the role that it is currently playing right now,” he observed.

His business partner and Co-founder of MoneyMatch Naysan Munusamy also believes the new era of digital-only banks will over a period transform the landscape. They will also force traditional banks to either evolve themselves or more likely trim their offerings to stay profitable and relevant in the new era.

“My caveat, though, is that this new era will take quite some time to take effect, several years at a minimum. In my opinion, people are over-simplifying what a bank does and trying to replicate several online services and offer them cheaper. The reality is that banks are very complex machines with a wide range of financial products providing banks with diverse ancillary income,” shared Munusamy, who is also Managing Partner at TH Capital

Elaborating further, he said most commercial banks make substantial profits on their treasury products and solutions which are often capital-intensive. New digital banks won’t be able to match them with their limited capital.

Additionally, the cost of regulatory compliance and putting in place robust risk management processes won’t come cheap. It makes the profitability target that the market regulator has made mandatory a strict criterion to fulfil, bearing in mind that major disruptors in most other industries are still bleeding money.

Also Read: Here are the 16 most influential fintech personalities in Malaysia

“Nonetheless, the opportunity remains very real but will take a while to really mature. But I feel traditional banks will be forced to go through a paradigm shift and possibly narrow down their financial services to profitable verticals with high capital requirements such as complex treasury products. And then they will work in collaboration with fintech startups to remain relevant,” he explained.

Varun Mittal, a fintech expert who has been tracking the Singapore and Malaysia digital bank landscape extensively, has a different view and said digital banks wouldn’t have much impact on traditional banks. “The entry of these new banks isn’t going to make anyone obsolete,” said the Global Emerging Markets FinTech Leader at EY.

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The new digital bank licences proposed by the Singapore government is the talk of the town nowadays. Almost 21 companies/consortia from across the globe, including Ant Financial, Grab and Singtel, and Razer, have applied for a licence — but only up to five licences (two digital full-banks (DFBs) and three digital wholesale banks (DWBs) — will be issued in total.

For the uninitiated, a digital bank licence will allow entities, including non-bank players, to conduct digital banking businesses in the city-state.

As the enthusiasm is getting high in the city-state, Malaysia is also playing catchup, with its government issuing guidelines for new digital bank licences. Although there are a few similarities between the guidelines issued by the two countries, some experts feel that Malaysia’s digital bank guidelines are unique from the perspective of achieving a balance between innovation and level playing field.

“Compared to Singapore, Malaysia has ensured that new digital banks can access ATM networks and cheque infrastructure, acknowledging that some parts of the economy with unmet and unserved needs will still need access to these while using digital banks. That the advent of digital banks won’t magically make cash vanish with their launch is an undeniable truth,” said Varun Mittal, Global Fintech Leader at EY.

Also Read: Will the new digital banks sound the death knell for traditional banks?

Regarding foreign participation, Malaysia has clearly articulated the preference for local “equity” control, thereby ending debate about headquarter location and subjective definitions of management, operating and board control.

“Clarity on preference for year five as the breakeven mark is also a welcome step to ensure applicants can develop and evaluate their plans internally,” added Mittal, who has been tracking the Singapore and Malaysia digital bank landscape extensively.

Below is a document prepared by Mittal comparing the licence guidelines issued by the two countries:

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