Nurturing Financial Innovation – Industrial Visit To Maybank’s Innovation Centre

Recently, in line with the Industrial Revolution (IR) 4.0, the Banking and Financial Services industries are undergoing revolutionary changes as well. Maybank, as the largest bank in Malaysia, adapts to the culture of change, allowing them to transform from a traditional bureaucratic banking environment to an innovative hub for the development of Financial Technology (FinTech).

To learn from the industry experts, students of the Banking & Finance and Islamic Banking & Finance programmes visited Maybank’s Innovation Centre recently, under the guidance of Ms. Ng Hui Chen & Ms. Ummi Kalthum from the School of Accounting & Finance.

​During their visit, the students went on a tour around the impressive workspaces of the Innovation Centre; and they were impressed by the environment that differed greatly from a traditional bank office. Ms. Sabrina Ema and Mr. Wong Kin Seng from Maybank delivered an inspiring talk during the visit; the visiting group was pleased to hear from them about how Maybank penetrated the culture of change and innovation in a traditional bureaucratic banking environment, as well as how Maybank built the FinTech ecosystem by providing assistance for the FinTech startups in Malaysia. The duo also shared insights on Maybank’s future directions, in which FinTech will be one of their main focus areas for 2020.

Another major focus of the industrial visit was also to share the values of entrepreneurship. Both Ms. Sabrina and Mr. Wong gave useful tips to our students on funding procedures and options as well as the necessary regulatory support required, for them to become successful entrepreneurs. As Maybank has funded many startups in FinTech, the advice was extremely useful and we were pleased to listen to those stories of experience.

We have been maintaining a good industry-academia relationship with Maybank, while many of our alumni have embarked on interesting careers with Maybank. Through this visit to Maybank’s Innovation Centre, we look forward to seeing our students contributing to their growth as FinTech professionals of the future.