Combined Sarawak Strategy and
Affin Partners (consolidated)

Overview

Sarawak presents a strategic opportunity for Affin Bank to lead regional digitalisation by pairing FinTech partnerships with a Sarawak‑first product and delivery approach. The state government’s digital agenda, large underbanked rural population, and SME-driven economy create a clear demand for tailored digital financial services.

Key constraints:

· Geography

· uneven digital infrastructure

· financial literacy and trust

· competitive activity that has not yet produced a dominant Sarawak‑centric digital bank.

Strategic pillars (Affin + FinTech partnership focus)

• Financial Inclusion & Rural Onboarding: agent networks, BNPL/nano‑credit at merchant points, simplified KYC and cash-in/cash-out workflows.
• Empowering SMEs & Agricultural Value Chains: supply‑chain finance integrated with anchor corporate ledgers; bundled SME toolkits with payments and basic accounting.
• Seamless Everyday Payments: deep integration with state and super‑app wallets, comprehensive biller coverage (SESCO, SWB, councils).
• Digital Lending & Wealth: alternative‑data credit (P2P/co‑lending), robo‑advisory and low‑cost investment access with localised education.

Implementation roadmap (phased)

• Phase 1 — Foundation & Pilot (0–12 months): MoU with Sarawak government, listening tours, pilots for agent banking (20 agents), supply‑chain finance with one anchor, Affin link to S Pay Global, Sarawak Digital Hub in Kuching, staff training.
• Early KPIs: MoU signed; 1,000 rural accounts via agents; 50 SMEs onboarded; 15% uptick in Affin‑S Pay linkages.
  
  
• Phase 2 — Scale & Integrate (13–30 months): scale agents to 500+, expand supply‑chain finance to 3–5 anchors, launch Affin Sarawak SME Digital Toolkit, P2P Sarawak SME Fund, micro‑insurance; integrate with state service payments and tourism wallet guides.
• Scale KPIs: 50,000 new rural accounts; 500+ SMEs active; 5,000 SME Toolkit sign‑ups; MYR 20M loans disbursed; Affin top bank for state payments.
  
  
• Phase 3 — Innovate & Lead (31–48+ months): green finance, blockchain provenance pilots, annual FinTech challenge, Affin Digital Sarawak report, profitability and cost‑to‑serve optimisation.

• Long‑term KPIs: MYR 5M green loans; blockchain pilot live; 50+ startup applicants; digital channel profitability > branch.

Governance & success factors

• Dedicated cross‑functional Sarawak team with decision authority.
• Agile test‑and‑learn culture; rapid iteration on pilots.
• Data‑driven KPIs for adoption, transactions and revenue.
• Ongoing regulatory engagement with BNM and state agencies.
• Localised brand messaging: “Banking for Sarawak’s Future.”

Operational design considerations

• Low‑bandwidth API design, sandbox SFTP/testing environments, templated onboarding docs (board resolutions, authorisations), token provisioning SOPs.
• SIT → UAT → PVT → production release controls with regression testing and GL reconciliation test cases.
• Agent onboarding playbooks, agent liquidity and settlement flows, dispute handling and incident SLAs.
• Training materials and local language content for financial literacy and product adoption.

Known & relevant Affin partners (cash management / merchant / fintech / tech)

• ACI Worldwide — payments platform to modernise and centralise real‑time payments.
• Aspire Systems — digital banking / omnichannel implementation partner.
• F5 — digital operations / agility technology partner.
• Versa Asia / AFFINMAX — digital cash‑management/mobile savings and SME ecosystem solutions.
• Merchantrade (Merchantrade Money) — co‑branded prepaid card and e‑wallet integration.
• Fiuu — merchant ecosystem partnership for merchant recruitment and SME cashless payments.
• PayNet / FPX — transaction rails and online collections capability.
• DuitNow / DuitNow AutoDebit — recurring collection/payment rails.
• Halogen Capital — distribution partnership for digital asset/Shariah defensive bitcoin product.
• AFFIN Group / SME Colony references — platforms and SME references supporting SME digitalisation.

Notes: these partners cover enterprise payments, merchant acquiring, SME platforms, wallet/co‑branding, and fintech distribution roles. Additional partners and vendor details are discoverable via Affin newsroom, annual reports, Malaysian fintech press and vendor partner pages.

How to find more partners (practical steps)

1. Check Affin Group / Affin Bank newsroom and press releases for announced partnerships.

2. Review Affin Group annual reports and investor presentations for vendor disclosures.

3. Search Malaysian fintech and business press for merchant acquiring and cash‑management stories.

4. Inspect partner/vendor websites (payment processors, core vendors, card schemes) for client lists naming Affin.

Appendix — one‑page achievement highlights for Jay

• CMS migration: led full customer migration to new CMS; completed before 31 Dec 2018; minimal downtime; coordinated UAT/PVT and cross‑functional teams.
• Reflex platform: managed channel and ops; reduced incident resolution times; increased subscribers via product and marketing campaigns.
• API merchant integration: oversaw end‑to‑end API implementation, sandbox/SFTP setup and GL reconciliation test cases leading to successful merchant onboarding.
• Team leadership: built and coached cross‑functional teams in Transaction Banking and Sales achieving activation and current‑account uplift targets.