KUALA LUMPUR: OneConnect Financial Technology Co Ltd, a leading technology-as-a-service (TaaS) platform for financial institutions, wants to be the trusted technology enabler in digital transformation for financial institutions in Malaysia.
Head of business development for Malaysia and Singapore Yao Jing said Malaysia is one of the attractive investment destinations for the company as the country has a strong regional presence in the market.
"Malaysia has favourable market opportunities offered through the presence of its regional banks such as Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), CIMB Bank Bhd and RHB Bank Bhd.
"With the presence of these banks in Malaysia, OneConnect has a wider opportunity to expand our customer base in Malaysia," he told the New Straits Times in an interview.
Yao said Bank Negara Malaysia's decision to open its door to digital banking also bodes well for the company's Southeast Asia expansion strategy.
He said the company is committed to contributing its knowledge and expertise in digital banking, as well as hiring a local team to serve the banks and digital bank licence applicants in this transformative landscape in Malaysia.
"We are actively talking to digital banks and trying to offer our service to them. They are definitely our target customers.
"We also plan to hire at least 50 local talents to grow a product and engineering team who will provide support for clients in Malaysia and have the opportunities to work on our regional projects," he said.
Backed by Ping An's 32 years of experience in the financial industry and an extensive track record as the tech enabler, OneConnect is able to bring to Malaysia the breadth and depth of proven solutions, and journey with its clients through their digital transformation roadmap.
OneConnect provides digital solutions that include artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics, blockchain and cloud technology for financial institutions.
Today, it is present in nearly 20 countries and territories where it counts major banks and insurance companies among its clients.
According to Yao, the company aims to be a strategic technology partner for financial institutions in Southeast Asia.
He said the company focused in several different areas including Digital Bank-in-a-Box, electronic Know-Your-Customer (eKYC) solution, smart lending, insurtech and environmental, social, and governance (ESG).
"Our eKYC solution is using advanced facial recognition and voiceprint for verification at account opening.
"We put in artificial intelligence (AI) enabled micro-expression and natural language processing technologies to help officers detect fraud and loan default risks immediately," he added.