The importance of fintech is rising inside Brunei’s economic system, pushed by elevated efforts from each the private and non-private sectors to leverage know-how to boost monetary companies, enhance accessibility and drive financial progress.
On the Britain Brunei Enterprise Discussion board’s “Brunei’s Fintech Future” in late-2022, Brunei’s Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic system on the Ministry of Finance and Economic system, Dato Seri Paduka Haji Khairuddin bin Haji Abdul Hamid, mentioned in his keynote deal with that the nation was seeing speedy developments in fintech, with elevated adoption of digital insurance coverage, cell funds, and cashless transactions in each private and non-private sectors.
“Extra companies are accepting cashless funds past debit and bank cards, equivalent to Fast Pay, Progresif Pay and Pocket,” Dato Seri Paduka Haji Khairuddin mentioned, quoted by native newspaper the Borneo Bulletin.
“Fintech can also be remodeling the general public sector, with cashless funds being featured in e-Darussalam for companies equivalent to automobile license renewal. Fintech has additionally facilitated entrepreneurship, permitting small companies to arrange with out the necessity for main monetary infrastructure investments due to cell banking companies.”
Banks embrace new applied sciences
With digital fee transactions rising by a staggering 87.8% over the previous 5 years, native banks are waking as much as the digital crucial, ramping modernization and digitalization efforts to maintain up with evolving buyer expectations, enhance efficiencies and stay aggressive within the face of heightened competitors from digital challengers.
In July 2023, Financial institution Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD), one of many nation’s largest lenders, introduced its intention to rework right into a digital-first financial institution, the Borneo Bulletin reported. By the top of the last decade, BIBD goals to have a majority of its buyer relationships, together with new onboarding, playing cards, financial savings accounts, financing, securities, and different monetary companies, performed digitally in a unified functions ecosystem.
Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah, chairman of BIBD Group and the incumbent second Minister of Finance and Economic system II and the Minister on the Prime Minister’s Workplace of Brunei, highlighted the financial institution’s dedication in the direction of full digital transformation on the launch of BIBD At-Tamwil Berhad‘s new Olive cell banking app.
“This digital transformation will allow us to offer our prospects with larger comfort, safety, and accessibility to our monetary companies, promote inclusivity, whereas making certain that we stay on the forefront of an evolving banking trade that’s quickly turning digital,” Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew mentioned in his speech.
“We’ll proceed to boost our system to modernize and undertake the very best world requirements for security, safety, and availability by 2025. These developments will assist BIBD to increase and synchronize its operations outdoors Brunei.”
The Olive app is the primary of its form in Brunei providing digital signature and digital contract, the executives mentioned. It additionally options real-time financing approvals, and non-face-to-face buyer onboarding by digital know-your-customer (eKYC) know-how.
Junaidi bin Haji Masri, BIBD At-Tamwil Berhad’s chairman and BIBD’s managing director and CEO, talked about the alignment of BIBD’s digital transformation with nationwide targets outlined within the central financial institution’s Monetary Sector Blueprint 2016 – 2025, a technique specializing in creating Brunei’s monetary companies sector and compete with developed regional opponents.
Public efforts to spice up Fintech in Brunei
Launched in 2016, the Monetary Sector Blueprint 2016 – 2025 outlines the framework and measures to develop the monetary companies sector, figuring out 5 key pillars to making a sustainable monetary ecosystem particularly: financial and monetary stability; aggressive and revolutionary monetary establishments and companies; sturdy and fashionable infrastructure; enhanced worldwide integration; and human capital growth.
The technique goals for the monetary sector to contribute to a minimum of 8% of Brunei’s nationwide gross home product by 2025. Fintech growth and know-how are recognized as key enablers of progress on this regard.
Including to the Monetary Sector Blueprint 2016 – 2025 is the Digital Economic system Grasp Plan 2025. The event plan, introduced in 2020, goals to propel the nation in the direction of turning into a sensible nation by digitalization throughout varied sectors. It includes 4 strategic thrusts, together with authorities digitalization and data and communications (ICT) growth, and emphasizes 9 precedence areas together with monetary companies, enterprise companies, well being and schooling.
Notable flagship initiatives below the Digital Economic system Grasp Plan 2025 embrace the Nationwide Info Hub (NIH) Mission, the Digital Identification Mission, and the Digital Cost Hub Mission. These initiatives goal to allow safe information sharing and utilization, present entry to authorities companies on-line, and permit seamless and prompt transactions between shoppers.
Progress has been made within the NIH Mission, which is already seeing the involvement of a number of authorities stakeholders. Nonetheless, challenges stay, with the Digital Identification and Cost Hub Initiatives not but prepared for implementation. Moreover, Brunei nonetheless lacks a selected information safety laws or statutory legislation, a regulatory shortfall that has hindered enterprise alternatives concerned in assortment, use, disclosure, and different processing of private information.
Flagship initiatives below the Digital Economic system Grasp Plan 2025 together with initiatives to drive fintech in Brunei Supply: Digital Economic system Council, Brunei, 2020
These initiatives construct on earlier initiatives by the federal government to modernize the monetary companies sector. In 2014 and 2016, Brunei established the a real-time gross settlement system and an automatic clearing home. This was adopted in 2017 by the launch of a Fintech Regulatory Sandbox and the set-up of the Fintech Workplace to stimulate improvements within the monetary sector.
Featured picture credit score: edited from freepik
