The Centre for Economic Studies (CES) under Faculty of Business and Finance (FBF) organised a research talk titled “FinTech - The Future of Financial Industry” on 27 July 2018 at Kampar Campus. Invited to deliver the talk was Alex Yeoh.
Present at the talk were FBF Deputy Dean for R&D and Postgraduate Programmes Dr Lau Lin Sea, Chairperson of CES Dr Foo Chuan Chew, Chairperson of Centre for Accounting, Banking and Finance Dr Krishna Moorthy Manicka Nadar, FBF Department of Economics Dr Vikniswari Vija Kumaran, FBF Department of Economics Assoc Prof Dr Eng Yoke Kee, FBF Department of Economics Assoc Prof Dr Wong Chin Yoong, FBF Department of Finance Dr Wei Chooi Yi, academic staff and students.
Yeoh graduated with an Engineering Degree from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). Since university days, he had ventured into the insurance industry and involved in the investment industry. He was the Regional Marketing executive for Hong Leong Asset Management, share trading broker of RHB Bank and a Relationship Manager of TA Investment. His job was to provide training and investment updates to agents and bankers including Hong Leong, Maybank, Ambank, OCBC, Standard Chartered and Citibank, to name a few. In 2012, Yeoh completed his Request for Proposal (RFP) and become a Licensed Financial Planner with VKA Wealth Planners, in order to practice full-fledged financial planning services. Currently, he is also a financial speaker, trainer and a regular columnist for various blogs, websites and magazines.
At the talk, Yeoh introduced the term “financial technology”, also briefly known as FinTech, to the participants. Yeoh referred to FinTech as a new industry that evolved from the traditional financial industry by incorporating the application of technologies in the delivery of financial services. He also highlighted the benefits and challenges of the equity crowdfunding (ECF) and Peer to Peer (P2P) lending of FinTech industry in Malaysia. According to Yeoh, the application of mobile banking and mobile investing services are the examples of technologies commonly used to meet the fast-paced demands of the 21st century.
He then described the cashless method by explaining the concept of E-wallet to the audience. He disclosed the list of banks that use FinTech in Malaysia, for instance Maybank, CIMB, Public Bank, Hong Leong and RHB. He further explained that the emergence of FinTech has encouraged the development of P2P lending and ECF. Hence, the lenders and borrowers or investors can connect with each other through online platforms for crowdfunding. Regulated by Securities Commission Malaysia, P2P and ECF have become a popular alternative for businesses, especially the SMEs, to raise funds.
He further added that Malaysia has only used the P2P approach for business purpose compared to the US and China. He showed a diagram flow of P2P between small and medium-sized businesses and investors to the participants. In addition, he provided some guidelines for the borrowers by explaining the difference between Business Term Financing (BTF) and Invoice Financing (IF). He also explained the eligibility for financing, the difference between equity and loan in business, the risks and also the potential returns. At the end of the talk, Yeoh displayed a QR code for the audience to learn more about the FinTech industry. The talk ended with a Q&A session.
Yeoh highlighting the benefits and challenges of FinTech industry in Malaysia
Yeoh displaying the QR code for the audience to discover more about FinTech industry
Yeoh (front row, second from left) posing with the participants
© 2019 UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN DU012(A).
Wholly owned by UTAR Education Foundation Co. No. 578227-M LEGAL STATEMENT TERM OF USAGE PRIVACY NOTICE