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Daily Brief · FinTech · AI

AFFIN Expands Into Brunei Banking, RCBC Cuts Fees on US Remittances, and Kuala Lumpur Gets an AI Cybersecurity Research Center

AFFIN Group and Baiduri Bank signed an MoU to build a broader Malaysia-Brunei banking corridor spanning commercial banking, trade finance and asset management, against RM5.8 billion in 2025 bilateral trade. In the Philippines, RCBC waived transfer fees on its US Virtual Account service for the roughly 500,000 Filipinos in the Los Angeles area alone, a diaspora whose remittances made up more than 7.3% of Philippine GDP last year. And in Kuala Lumpur, the Global Cybersecurity Alliance and a Malaysia-based engineering academy launched a joint AI Cybersecurity Research Center aimed at developing-world talent and research.

August 22, 20264 min readMalaysia · Brunei · Philippines · Cross-Border Payments · Remittances · AI
Photorealistic photograph of two anonymous business executives seen from behind, signing documents at a conference table during a formal bilateral banking signing ceremony, facing two more executives across the table in front of a blue corporate backdrop.
A formal bank signing ceremony, the kind of setting where AFFIN and Baiduri Bank agreed to deepen their Malaysia-Brunei banking corridor this week.

AFFIN and Baiduri Bank Sign an MoU to Build a Broader Malaysia-Brunei Banking Corridor

AFFIN Group and Baiduri Bank, Brunei's largest conventional bank, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on August 19 to deepen financial ties between Malaysia and Brunei, spanning commercial and retail banking, financing, trade finance, treasury, investment banking, stockbroking, asset management and unit trusts. The partnership leverages AFFIN's Malaysian network alongside Baiduri's domestic Brunei franchise to create what AFFIN's chief executive described as "a more direct financial corridor for businesses in both markets."

The MoU responds to a growing trade relationship: bilateral trade between Malaysia and Brunei reached RM5.8 billion in 2025, with RM2.4 billion recorded in the first half of 2026 alone. Both countries have said they want to deepen cooperation across trade, investment, energy, tourism and the halal economy, with particular focus on links between Brunei and the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak.

Sources

RCBC Waives Fees on US-to-Philippines Transfers for a Diaspora Whose Remittances Top 7% of GDP

RCBC waived transfer fees on its US Virtual Account service, a cross-border banking product under its RCBC Pulz digital platform that lets Filipinos in the United States send money home. The bank's executive vice-president Lito Villanueva announced the move on August 7-8 at the International Asian American Business Expo in Torrance, California, with the waiver effective from August 1; roughly 500,000 Filipinos live in the Los Angeles area alone.

Villanueva framed the move against the scale of the remittance economy itself: overseas Filipino remittances made up more than 7.3% of the Philippine economy in 2025. "When something hits 7% of a nation's GDP in most industries, that's not a category anymore," he said. "That's the whole industry." The service sits alongside other RCBC products targeting the diaspora, including the MySSS Card powered by RCBC DiskarTech.

Sources

Global Cybersecurity Alliance and a Malaysian Engineering Academy Launch an AI Cybersecurity Research Center in Kuala Lumpur

The Global Cybersecurity Alliance (GCSA) and the Academy of Engineering and Technology of the Developing World (AETDEW) formally launched a joint AI Cybersecurity Research Center in Kuala Lumpur, aimed at advancing AI cybersecurity research, professional talent development, technology exchange and research commercialisation. The signing brought together GCSA senior advisor H.E. Kabiné Komara, a former prime minister of Guinea, alongside AETDEW founding president Dato' Ir. Dr. Lee Yee Cheong and president Ir. Ts. Choo Kok Beng.

Neither organisation disclosed a funding amount or an implementation timeline. The stated focus is on the "practical needs of developing countries and emerging economies" navigating AI-driven digital transformation, positioning the center as an international collaboration hub rather than a Malaysia-specific programme.

Sources

Eyes on the Day Ahead

Nothing new is scheduled in the next 24-48 hours; looking further out, Techsauce Global Summit 2026 — Southeast Asia's largest tech conference — runs August 26-28 in Bangkok, worth watching for AI-infrastructure and digital-asset announcements from regional regulators and vendors attending.

Layer 7 Ventures is a research-driven firm focused on AI and cryptocurrency in Southeast Asia. Views expressed are those of the firm and do not constitute investment advice.

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