Banks must speed up digital transformation, says Anwar

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim urged domestic banks to accelerate their digital transformation efforts and advance quickly to avoid falling behind.

“The challenge for GX Bank and other digital banks is to reform at a faster pace,” he said.

Regionally Malaysia is not among the early adopters of digital banks and has been trailing in several aspects, Anwar said. 

“Indeed, the journey is a thousand miles, but if we follow a slow pace, we will fall behind as we have not started with the required speed.

“In this context, therefore, I am proud of GXBank for starting and progressing at a faster pace,” he said, reported NST.

He added that the government, through cooperation between the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), and the Digital Ministry, as well as coordination with Bank Negara Malaysia, is working to remove old regulations and processes that hinder digital banking.

Today, Anwar inaugurated GX Bank Bhd’s (GXBank) “GX Untuk Semua” initiative.

He underscored the bank’s commitment to support Malaysia’s nation-building efforts and the KL20 vision of becoming a leading global startup hub.

This initiative aims to bolster Malaysia’s position in digital banking.

GXBank is the first digital bank in Malaysia to be approved by Bank Negara Malaysia and the Ministry of Finance.

The GXBank app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

Currently, GXBank is purely a savings account.

Led by Grab, GXBank plans to invest RM1.5 billion in Malaysia over the next five years.