Artificial intelligence (AI) will play an increasingly important role in the financial sector, but its success will ultimately depend on human judgement, ethical leadership and public trust, Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said.
Speaking at the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers (AICB) Nexus 2026 Conference on Wednesday, Amir Hamzah said AI should be viewed as a powerful tool rather than a replacement for people, stressing that a future-ready banking system requires strong governance, accountability and responsible innovation.
“As AI becomes more embedded in finance, the future workforce will need to combine human judgment with machine intelligence, guided by ethical leadership, accountability and a culture of responsible innovation. A resilient banking system depends not only on sound regulation, capital strength and technological capability. It also depends on people,” he said.
He said banks are increasingly using AI for credit assessments, fraud detection, customer engagement, compliance, cyber security, market surveillance and risk modelling, enabling faster and more accurate decision-making while expanding access to underserved communities.
However, Amir Hamzah cautioned that emerging technologies also bring new risks. Citing Bank Negara Malaysia’s 2025 Annual Report, he noted that Malaysians lost RM2.8 billion to financial scams in 2024, with 95% involving authorised transactions where victims were manipulated into transferring money.
“This is not a technology failure. It is a trust failure,” he said, adding that the biggest threat in an AI-enabled financial system is often not machines making incorrect decisions, but people being deceived into making them.
He said financial institutions must strengthen authentication systems, improve fraud detection and protect customers from increasingly sophisticated scams involving phishing, impersonation, synthetic identities and AI-generated deception.
Amir Hamzah also welcomed the AI Governance Framework developed by AICB’s Chief Risk Officers’ Forum with Bank Negara Malaysia’s support and the endorsement of the Association of Banks in Malaysia, describing it as an example of the industry taking responsibility for governing AI adoption.
Beyond technology, he said the banking sector must continue investing in talent as institutions capable of managing complexity, exercising sound judgement and acting with integrity will be best positioned for the future.
“The institutions that succeed will not simply be those with the most advanced systems, but those with people who can govern complexity, exercise judgement and act with integrity.
“Investment in talent must be seen as part of the sector’s core infrastructure. A banking system cannot be future-ready if its people are not,” he said.
Amir Hamzah added that trust remains the foundation of banking despite rapid technological change, saying the financial system must remain fair, secure and focused on serving people while supporting Malaysia’s economic transformation.
