Capital A Berhad’s airasia Super App has partnered with CGS-CIMB Securities Sdn Bhd to roll out a new stock trading feature, thereby making equity investing more accessible, affordable, and inclusive for the public. This is especially so for the unserved and underserved segment.

The collaboration will see both airasia Super App and CGS-CIMB Securities bringing together their respective expertise, consumer insights, and strategies to democratise capital market offerings. This includes leveraging on the simplicity and convenience offered via airasia Super App’s platform, as well as CGS-CIMB Securities’ investment-as-a-service model.

The deputy chief executive officer of CGS-CIMB Securities, Alan Inn explained that the upcoming feature will tap into the concept of fractional share trading as a means to make share ownership accessible.

“Today, in the various platforms we see in Malaysia, apart from the platforms which are typically difficult to use, people buy stocks in one lot – which is 100 shares on Bursa Malaysia – we are going to change that so that customers do not have to buy in lots but in dollar terms. For example, if a customer has US$100 or RM100 and wants to buy Maybank or CIMB shares for a RM100 worth, that typically will be less than one lot, and we are going to enable that,” said Inn.

The chief fintech officer of airasia Super App, Mohamad Hafidz Fadzil further shared that the new service is slated to be available within the next six months. “The work starts after the MoU signing. There are, of course, the considerations around regulations which we have to make sure that it is done correctly, and according to what the Securities Commission Malaysia and regulators ask us to do. Right now, we have already started engaging the regulators to ensure that [our product] is within the confines of the regulation. Once that is clear, we will be hitting the market very quickly,” he said.

Mohamad Hafidz also commented that they need to develop the new feature so that it will be a good fit for the community that is already within the airasia Super App itself, and he hopes to get it done quickly “because we want to develop the ability for our users to collect extra wealth.”

Meanwhile, the chief executive officer of Capital A, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes chimed in to say that this collaboration was inspired by the rise of US-based stock and crypto trading service provider Robinhood. “For airasia Super App to do it by ourselves would take a long time to get regulatory approvals, plus [stockbroking] is not our expertise. As we move forward, this will become a joint venture to really democratise institutional broking,” he said.

Capital A and CGS-CIMB Securities also shared that stock trading is only the first of many other products to come via their collaboration. Other instruments that the public can expect to see being offered in the future include fixed income, bonds, futures, contract for difference (CFD), and crypto. There are also plans to enable portfolio management through a robo-advisory type platform.

(Sources: AirAsia, The Edge Markets)

• TAGS:
• airasia Super App
• Alan Inn
• Capital A
• CGS-CIMB Securities
• Mohamad Hafidz Fadzil
• Securities Commission Malaysia
• Stock Trading
• Tony Fernandes