Saify Akhtar, Director of Strategy, said: "We are motivated by and aligned with the financial inclusion emphasis in the licensing framework for digital banks published by BNM in December 2020. Pertama Digital is leading a consortium of innovators and veterans, bringing to market a homegrown solution, purpose built for those Malaysians that need us most. We have been hard at work coordinating capital, talent, technology and a captive market and are proud to announce that we have a uniquely sustainable banking model that exceeds the requirements laid out in the framework. We look forward to delivering ethical financial products to underserved Malaysians and contributing to our post-pandemic recovery as a nation."

Pertama Digital is the holding company of DAPAT Vista (M) Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian company that specialises in digitalisation of government services. It provides solutions in mobile and web apps; mobile payment and messaging; business empowerment APIs, and other customised digital services. Dapat also operates the government SMS gateway called mySMS and owns the MyPay and eJamin apps.

"Our vantage point gives us an edge because we have a wealth of information and lessons which have resulted in a successful and repeatable system that gets digitally and financially underserved Malaysians transacting online. Our team derives the most satisfaction from seeing our solutions adopted by people who have never made an online bank transfer before, for example. This is why we have collectively decided to pledge our resources into serving this market from here on," explained Saify.

Having started the digital court bail solution, eJamin, in early 2020, Pertama Digital now has valuable knowhow in the space of including underserved communities both digitally and financially.

"eJamin was designed after detailed consultations with the Office of the Chief Registrar of the Federal Court, court personnel across the country, banks and members of the Rakyat who have paid bail. Thanks to an innovation culture at the courts and rapidly increasing adoption of digital services across Malaysia, eJamin was implemented across all criminal courts in Malaysia 6 months ahead of schedule by mid-2020," said Amanda Sabri, CEO of Dapat.

Pertama Digital recently announced the increase of daily transfer limits between banks to RM500,000 from the usual RM30,000, which was approved by Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet) to meet the demands of the legal system, which continues to operate robustly during the pandemic. PayNet is the national payments network and shared central infrastructure for Malaysia's financial markets, with BNM as the single largest shareholder.

"On 1 April 2021, Dapat commenced a proof-of-concept for the conversion of coins into usable funds in any Malaysian bank account," Amanda continues.

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