Malaysia’s Maybank wants easier SME banking with new digital services

For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), having clear visibility on their finances allows them to plan their business properly. Despite the numerous solutions available today for planning a business strategy, SME banking options are still often limited.

Most SMEs would rely on third-party solutions to do most of their non-banking tasks, like creating, issuing, and tracking invoices and such. These processes, although simple, often lead to extra costs for SMEs as well.

In Malaysia, SMEs are being encouraged to use more digital platforms for their services. However, managing multiple platforms and services can also be a tedious task for most of them. As such, SME banking options are needed to help them adapt digitally faster.

Maybank’s Maybank2u Biz is a mobile-first application for SMEs, with the key objective of making their banking requirements simple and secure. The bank wants to provide SMEs with the necessary tools to help with their non-banking requirements as well, to ease business operations.

According to Maybank’s Group President and Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Abdul Farid Alias, Maybank2u Biz is designed to be more than just a banking application, but a business companion that will help ease SMEs’ burden and empower them to drive their businesses forward.

“We have made it simple because entrepreneurs should be spending more time making strategic decisions instead of managing daily operations.”

Developed entirely by Maybank’s in-house developers, the app has a “Maker-Checker” authorization process for transactions to be simplified for efficient on-the-go approval without compromising on transparency. For example, customers can now approve up to 10 transactions at a time within an extended seven-day approval period.

The app also comes with an invoicing tool that allows business owners to create, issue, and track invoices. Invoices can be customized using ready-to-use templates, and sent out to their customers via various communication channels such as email and chat messaging applications on their mobile devices. Once issued, these invoices can be tracked on the dashboard of the application, helping businesses stay on top of their receivables.

Creating a secured SME banking app 

When asked if the bank is leveraging blockchain technology for its transparency and traceability processes on the app, Kaylani Nair, Head of Virtual Banking and Payments at Maybank said the bank is not using the technology yet but might be looking into it soon.

“Once we are in the system for decentralized tokenization system, then yes will use blockchain. But for now, we are using the information available on the app to help customers generate invoices,” explained Kaylani.

For the security of the app, Maybank has introduced Secure2u to Maybank2u Biz to safeguard transactions.

“Secure2u is a virtualized token system we have in place that not only helps us to make things more secure but prevents man-in-the-middle attacks and is a more convenient method. We have taken all security measures possible to ensure customers have a safe experience on the app,” added Kaylani.

Datuk Farid also highlighted that the launch of Maybank2u Biz reaffirms Maybank’s commitment to supporting SMEs.

“With its intuitive interface, easy navigation, and useful business tools, we believe Maybank2u Biz will be well received by SMEs, as Maybank currently serves 58% of the SMEs in Malaysia. This is just the first phase of the application; we will continue to enhance it and bring in more features that will help SMEs power up their businesses,” Datuk Farid said.

Maybank currently serves about 58% of the SMEs in Malaysia. Out of that, 67% are using Maybank’s various digital platforms which the bank aims to increase to 80% in the next 12 months.

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