AEON Bank: Malaysia's first Islamic digital bank, reserved for Malaysians

In 2022, BNM selected, under the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013, "a consortium comprising AEON Financial Service Co., Ltd., AEON Credit Service (M) Berhad and MoneyLion Inc.". AEON Bank is therefore a licensed Islamic digital bank: its products are designed in line with the principles of Islamic finance (profit rather than interest). PIDM lists it among the digital banks that are members of its scheme.

The exact registered name and the entry in the BNM register have not been verified.

BNM stated in 2022 that the successful applicants had to complete a period of operational readiness, validated by an audit by the central bank, before starting their business: Malaysian digital banks are therefore recent institutions whose offering is evolving rapidly.

When it opened to the public in May 2024, the press reported that AEON Bank was offered only to Malaysian citizens aged at least figure being updated, with electronic verification of the MyKad card and a selfie.

We have not found an official AEON Bank page on the eligibility of resident foreigners; in the absence of such a page, access for a foreign expatriate should be considered unconfirmed, and probably closed.

The Malaysian digital banks presented in this directory (GXBank, AEON Bank, Boost Bank) limit account opening to Malaysian citizens, according to the sources consulted. For a foreigner living in Malaysia, including under a long-term residence programme, the usual route remains a traditional bank with branches.

The retail offering consists of an Islamic savings account in ringgit, a debit card and local payments; a business account is also offered.

The rates of return and benefits announced at launch were part of a promotional offer and are not reproduced here. No dated official fee schedule was consulted.

Eligible deposits with a PIDM member bank are protected up to up to MYR 250,000¹ per depositor per member bank. The page consulted does not specify the treatment specific to Islamic deposits.

The PIDM FAQ states that foreign-currency deposits are converted into ringgit and aggregated with the other deposits of the same holder, under the same limit. Each member bank carries a separate limit: assets spread across several banks benefit from several limits.

• Access for non-Malaysians, not established from an official source.
• The current conditions for opening an account, which may have changed since launch.
• The name of the entity and its entry in the BNM register.
• The reporting obligations linked to your tax residence: a French tax resident must declare each year the accounts opened, held, used or closed outside France, including those with online banks and payment wallets; other countries impose comparable obligations.
• The tax residence self-certification requested at account opening: depending on the automatic exchange of information commitments of the bank's country, the account balances and income may be reported to the tax authority of your country of residence.