LET’S paint a picture of Zul.
He is a Grab driver. You’ve probably sat in the back of his car, scrolling through your phone,
while he navigated the afternoon downpour. He has two kids who still get excited over the
smell of new erasers. His wife, a part-time tailor, can fix a torn hem in minutes, but she can’t
fix a fluctuating income.
Zul doesn’t have a monthly pay slip to prove his worth. In the traditional banking world, that
absence of paperwork often translates into “high risk”. To me, it just means he is outside the
radar. Last January, when the school term was starting, he needed a bit extra for uniforms
and fees. He didn’t go to a bank; he already knew the polite, systematic rejection that
awaited him. He borrowed from a neighbor instead, masking his pride with a smile.
Zul is exactly who Malaysia’s digital bank framework was designed for. When Bank Negara
Malaysia (BNM) issued the digital banking licenses, the mandate was clear – serve the
underserved. But three years in, how far have we moved the needle?
Inclusion and literacy is a day one framework not an afterthought
People often ask why we launched our financial inclusion and literacy program – Impian
GIGih – before we even finished building the app. From a traditional corporate standpoint, it
looked like we were putting the cart before the horse. But from a structural standpoint, it was
the only logical move.
I remember a long afternoon in the office, surrounded by whiteboards and risk assessments.
As bankers, we are trained to look for stability – fixed salaries and long credit histories. But
the data for the gig economy told a different story. These weren’t “risky” people; they were
people operating within a system that wasn’t built for their reality. If we applied the old rules
to this new world, we would simply be building another bank for the people who already have
one.
We realised that for a digital bank to be effective, we had to bridge two gaps simultaneously;
access and understanding.
You cannot offer a credit line to someone who has never been allowed to build a credit
history. And you cannot expect someone to build a history if the tools are too complex to
use. That is why Impian GIGih and our banking app were built in tandem. The app provides
the tool, but the literacy programme provides the confidence to use it.
Redefining the mathematics of grit
The results of this approach are now showing up in our data, and they tell a story of
immense potential.
Three years in, more than half of our customers earn below RM3,000 a month. These are
the night-market sellers, the freelancers, and the drivers like Zul who were previously outside
the circle. Our GX FlexiCredit facility has seen over 400,000 drawdowns to date. Critically,
for nearly half of these borrowers from lower-income groups, this was their first entry into
formal credit. We aren’t “granting” them a loan; we are finally acknowledging their financial
existence and helping them build their first official credit footprint.
On the flip side, we are seeing a shift in how Malaysians view their own spare change. Our
customers are saving 21 times more as of the first quarter this year than they used to. In
2025 alone, Malaysians earned RM24 million in interest through our app.
As a banker, I see that RM24 million as a successful yield on a mass scale. As a Malaysian,
I see it as money that stayed in the pockets of families – perhaps to pay for those school
supplies Zul was worried about. In a country where 60% of us struggle to find RM1,000 for
an emergency, every ringgit saved isn’t just a number on a screen; it’s a brick in the wall of a
family’s financial resilience.
Bridging the gap between father and daughter
But numbers are only half the story. The real impact is in the shift of behaviour.
In our latest internal survey, 74% of respondents said they manage their money better
because of the simple, bitesized tips we share. Most tellingly, when asked where they go to
learn about finance, our app ranked number one – above social media and even their own
circles.
This trust is an immense responsibility. This is why our Impian GIGih programme; our
scholarships, bursaries and financial literacy – is so holistic. We’ve impacted nearly 2,000
lives, but the real magic is the ripple. When a father like Zul masters his cash flow on his
phone, his daughter, who might be one of our scholarship recipients, is watching. She learns
that her ambition isn’t a “risk”; – it’s an asset. We aren’t just teaching finance; we are closing
the gap between a father’s hard work and a daughter’s opportunity.
Looking beyond the radar
We still have a long way to go. The infrastructure of exclusion wasn’t built in a day.
But we are no longer just looking at a mandate on a piece of paper. We are building the
bridge, brick by brick. And when I see someone like Zul using that bridge to walk toward a
more secure future for his family, I know we are finally seeing the Malaysians we were
meant to see all along.
It turns out, the “underserved” weren’t waiting for a hero. They were just waiting for a bank
that finally knew how to look beyond the radar. – June 26, 2026
Hildah Hamzah is the deputy chief executive officer and chief operating officer of GXBank