Jirnexu, Southeast Asia’s first full-stack fintech company has signed strategic partnership agreements with more than five consortia in their bids for a digital banking license. With Jirnexu’s broad customer base and in-depth understanding of their financial needs through RinggitPlus.com, the digital banking contenders can build a holistic portfolio for their license bid in this selection period.
“As a pioneer in fintech, we are excited to see that the country is getting closer to digital banking. We have always believed that fintech would play a more pivotal role as the country progresses. The response that we received from many digital banking consortia since the beginning of the application process has been very overwhelming and we are thrilled to be part of this ecosystem development. The partnerships that we have formed with these applicants are a testament to our scale and capabilities,” said Siew Yuen Tuck, Co-founder and CEO of Jirnexu.
Established in 2012, Jirnexu delivers end-to-end digital acquisition platform, digital acquisition technology, alternative credit scoring, lending-as-a-service (LAAS), and digital marketing solutions and services for Financial Services Institutions (FSIs) and service providers in Asia. In Malaysia, Jirnexu also works with all existing major local and international banks in the market.
With the aspiration to improve the nation’s financial literacy, Jirnexu launched RinggitPlus.com, Malaysia’s leading financial comparison website, in 2013. The website also empowers Malaysians with simple and easy-to-understand personal finance knowledge. Over the years, RinggitPlus.com has served Malaysians from all walks of life, growing its customer base to over 1 million people – of which more than 70% are underserved customers of the existing banking sector.
“What Jirnexu brings to the table is the digital know-how to help traditional banking players digitise and optimise their operations. Meanwhile, our strong customer base that we interact with daily through RinggitPlus.com puts us in a unique position in this emerging digital banking ecosystem, as we have insights to their behaviours, demands, and also creditworthiness. With our capabilities combined, we are confident that we can elevate the digital banking space and create a holistic model with our partners to cater to the needs of the people, especially the B40 and M40 groups,” Siew added.
Jirnexu is part of the Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Financial Technology Regulatory Sandbox. The company also has established strategic partnerships with multiple players in the fintech space to expand their end-to-end services, including Experian on the credit scoring front to ensure that applicants are aware of their financial health before applying for any products or services. RinggitPlus has developed a Good and Bad credit score system, called X-Score, by using its proprietary data from its digitally sourced credit card and personal loan applications. This scorecard will enable digital banks to source customers confidently to suit their risk appetite accordingly. To date, Jirnexu has successfully facilitated 1.28 million credit card and payment customers through its digital acquisition process.
Beyond the industrial recognition and long-standing expertise, the partners can also leverage Jirnexu’s massive customer database and digital marketing solutions for a more strategic and targeted marketing approach.
“The digital banking arena will require strategic partnerships in order to build a holistic ecosystem that offers the best for the greater community. We are confident that our long-standing expertise and industrial recognition make us a strong partner for both digital banking contenders and existing FSIs and service providers, as our end-to-end offerings would play a pivotal role in transforming the traditional financial landscape,” concluded Siew.
Applications to BNM for the digital banking license have closed as of 30 June 2021, and the licenses are expected to be granted in Q1 2022. Until then, Jirnexu and its partners will continue working towards improving the access to financial products and services for the underserved and unserved market segments.
