In the best tradition of growth hacking, AirAsia's BigPay is going neobank not by licensing but by practice [by our estimation]. In a video, Group CEO Tony Fernandes mentions as soon as BigPay receives approval from regulator BNM to increase the maximum ewallet deposit to MYR 50K [USD 12K], AirAsia will pay staff salaries into BigPay. This will be a major boost for BigPay and the ewallet ecosystem. Imagine other ewallets that have a substantial local parent following suit:
- Boost - Axiata & Digi payrolls go into Boost. [Vcash folds into Boost?]
- TnG - CIMB & TnG payrolls go into TnG [CIMB unlikely due to firewall]
- MAE - Maybank payroll goes into MAE [maybe start with IT staff]
Long Term Stock Exchange
The SEC has just approved (Friday, 10 May 2019) a new stock exchange: the Long Term Stock Exchange (LTSE). LTSE differs from standard stock exchanges in the following:
- Long term investors get more voting rights than short term ones
- CEO salary must not be linked to stock prices
- Longer reporting cycles (eg. half yearly vs quarterly)
Next in the pipeline awaiting SEC approval is MEMX, a new stock exchange that is led by brokerages and banks in a promise to simplify listings and reduce costs.
Comparison of Banking TypesHow to distinguish neobanks, digital banks, virtual banks and traditional banks? Virtual banks are another name for digital banks. Neobanks are more nimble and easier to start than digital banks because neobanks do not require a banking license, they leverage on the backend and license of an existing bank. Digital banks differ from traditional banks by having no branches. The table below provides a fuller comparison.
| Ewallet | NeoBank | DigitalBank | StandardBank | |
| Onboarding | Instant | eKYC | eKYC | Counter |
| Deposit | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Withdrawals | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Transfers | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ATM | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lending | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| DebitCard | Maybe | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CreditCard | No | Maybe | Yes | Yes |
| MaxDeposit | Small | Medium | Large | VeryLarge |
| BankingLicense | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| DepositInsured | No | Maybe | Yes | Yes |
| Branches | No | No | No | Yes |
| Humans F2F | No | No | Maybe | Yes |
| OnlinePortal | No | Maybe | Yes | Yes |
| AppBased | Yes | Yes | Yes | Optional |
| EasilyBanned | Yes | Yes | Maybe | No |
| DataSlurping | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| InterestBearing | No | Low | Higher | Low |
| Characteristic | Speed | Agility | Reach | Stability |
| TargetMarket | Unbanked, Youngsters, Digerati | Underbanked, SME/SMB, Young Adults | Medium Sized Businesses, Niche Markets | Institutions, Large Businesses, General Public |