Golf and tech the perfect partners in the Maybank Championship

• Cashless payments, VR games and solar powered charging stations among innovations on show
• Maybank has embarked on a digital-first strategy with plans for the next 5 to 20 years

MAYBANK is looking to enhance its Maybank Championship 2017 golf tournament by serving a slew of tech-enhanced experiences during the competition, underscoring the banking giant’s aspirations to become Asean’s digital bank of choice.

From Feb 9-12, visitors to the Saujana Golf and Country Club will be able to check out some of the latest digital innovations and technology experiences by 15 different fintech and tech startups.

Speaking to the media, Maybank’s group chief strategy officer Michael Foong said he hopes the championship can act as a platform to drive greater awareness and interest of new technologies to the public.

“I don’t know if the traditional golfing crowd overlays with technology enthusiasts but as there may be more people attending a golf tournament for the first time, it will be interesting to see these two groups come together,” he said.

Foong also spoke of how Maybank has been embarking on a digital-first strategy that aims to deliver greater convenience to their customers and implement new technologies.

The rapid progress of technology has prompted Maybank to scan the landscape for new technologies and plan forward for the next five to 20 years.

“The things that we do today may not materially affect the core business of the bank but if we don’t start now we would be at a disadvantage when emerging trends finally arrive on our shores,” he said.

Case in point, cashless mobile payments which are booming in China thanks to Alipay and WeChat Pay. Though many people continue to use physical credit cards, Foong believes that it is inevitable that this trend will eventually come to Malaysia in the next five to eight years.

To give visitors a glimpse of that cashless payment future, Maybank has deployed Maybank Pay and Samsung Pay terminals at food and beverage and merchandise sales outlets in Saujana Golf and Country Club throughout the period of the championship.

Among the other interesting innovations visitors can experience at the championship include a virtual reality (VR) installation on the driving range by VR Labs where they can put on a VR headset and experience a game of golf without the discomfort of walking under the sun.

One of the final five startup teams in the MaybankFintech programme last year, app developer Piggipo from Thailand will be present to showcase their credit management app Credit Mavin that helps users keep track of their spending across multiple payment channels.

Visitors engrossed in the championship who find themselves low on battery can recharge their mobile devices at the solar-powered mobile charging stations provided by social enterprise Suncrox Solar.

Visitors can also participate in a startup hunt where they visit different exhibits using the VAV KL app that is able to detect specific sound waves from the music played at the exhibits.” Listening” with the app allows them to redeem a voucher.

For more information, visit www.maybankchampionship.com.my

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Digitalisation: Banking challenges amid fintech invasion

Fintech and Internet-of Things among 2017’s hottest startup trends

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