New insights from RFI Global (prepared for FICO based on research from the SME Banking Council) reveal early signs that traditional banks in Malaysia are at risk of losing small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) business to non-traditional competitors. 

Amidst strong interest in borrowing funds, between 62-70 percent of APAC SMEs are less than satisfied with their main bank’s level of support in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Nearly 60 percent of Malaysia’s SMEs expect to take up new or alternative / non-traditional borrowing products in 2022. 

As things stand, cryptos remain a growing asset class. Tokens that have become the staples of the cryptocurrency market, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, are still trending upwards in the long run. However, they’re as volatile as ever (as indicated by dramatic drop-offs in the past year or so). The market is also maturing, with more use cases dreamt up seemingly every day. This is especially true of those blockchains with “smart contract” capabilities, which turn them into flexible development platforms (the biggest and best known of which is still Ethereum).

By this point, there are all sorts of applications that people have created. And some of them, like Power Ledger’s energy trading platform or Brave’s use of tokens that wallet-holders receive in return for viewing curated advertisements, have been quite unexpected!

By Ravi Saraogi, Co-founder and President of Asia Pacific, Uniphore

The travel and hospitality industry were among the hardest hit industries during the pandemic. For Malaysia, a country that boasts a thriving travel and tourism economy, this led to adverse circumstances. In the first nine months of 2020, tourism receipts plunged 80.9% to RM12.6 billion from RM66.1 billion.That said, the opening of the country’s borders on 1st April 2022 signals hope for the tourism industry. While the tourism and hospitality industry are on their road to recovery, both these businesses are grappling with new business realities. Fewer business travelers, newer no-contact preferences and higher overall expectations are a few of the factors that will continue to shape customer experience within the leisure, travel and tourism industry in the region.