Maybank expands payment solutions to aid SMEs

By Digital News Asia June 20, 2017

Maybank will provide SME customers access to Sage One
All Maybank customers who are business owners can enjoy a 90-day free trial of Sage One

Maybank expands payment solutions to aid SMEs

MAYBANK and Sage, jointly announced the expansion of its partnership with the introduction of Sage One solution.

This partnership expansion will be focused on further helping Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia drive growth and succeed in a tough competitive landscape.

Under this expanded partnership, which sees Maybank joining the Sage Partner Programme, Maybank will provide its SME customers access to Sage One, a cloud-based accounting solution.

SME customers will be able to access online accounts via smart phone or mobile devices anywhere, and at any time, just like how they access their emails or internet banking.

With the subscription-based cloud accounting, customers do not need to purchase costly accounting software, worry about software installations, updates and training, manage data security and data loss as well as prepare for disaster recovery, thus giving them more time to focus on their business.

Moving forward, Sage intends to add more features and functions in Sage One.

These include an Interactive Dashboard with graphs and drill down, point-of-sales (POS), inventory management, e-commerce and invoicing to meet customers’ needs.

Commenting on the partnership, Maybank Malaysia Community Financial Services (CFS) head Hamirullah Boorhan said, “Business technology should be as simple and enjoyable to use as the technology we use in our everyday lives.

“Our expanded partnership with Sage allows Maybank to offer business owners in Malaysia the solutions needed to succeed, all under one roof. This greatly improves efficiency in businesses’ payment processes and drives changes in payment procedures, in line with Bank Negara’s Financial Sector blueprint.”

As part of Maybank’s drive to deliver value to SMEs, all Maybank customers who are business owners will be able to enjoy a 90-day free trial, instead of the usual 30-day, for Sage One - a user friendly, simple and secure online accounting tool that is GST-compliant.

Designed to help business owners stay on top of their finances by preventing time-consuming errors and enabling easier administration, this tool will allow users better control of their businesses.

Sage One is also priced with SMEs in mind, starting from RM35.

Since the introduction of the Maybank – Sage partnership in 2015, there have been several programmes introduced for the benefit of customers. These include Bulk Payment and Auto Reconciliation for Sage UBS and Sage Payroll solution.

These solutions have provided SME customers with the convenience of online banking, allowing them to easily create payments, check payment history, and automate bank reconciliation.

“These innovative and user-friendly digital solutions that fuel SMEs’ efforts to improve productivity, ensure security and leverage user-friendly features are in line with Maybank’s 2020 objective of being a digital bank of choice,” said Hamirullah.

Sage Software vice-president Asia Robin Chao said, “The successful movement of money is at the heart of every well-managed business. By tapping on technology to integrate key accounting functions of business processes and systems, organisations can reduce manual administration and free up time for more value-add activities.

“Entrepreneurs and their businesses can achieve higher levels of automation, efficiency and productivity, as well as gain better visibility into business performance by automating these key functions. Sage is proud to work with Maybank to help drive the prosperity of business builders in Malaysia.”

Maybank and Sage also aim to create a vibrant and conducive environment that promotes greater use of electronic payments for products and services, while promoting the national agenda of a highly resilient, high value-added and high-income economy.