What Year Is This For | Filing in 2026

When you submit your return in 2026, it is for the Year of Assessment 2025. e-Filing for the 2025 forms opens from 1 March 2026 via MyTax.

Also, you generally do not upload receipts with your return, but you must keep records and supporting documents for seven years in case of an audit.

Documents to Prepare Before You Start

Save yourself the last-minute panic by preparing these first:

• EA/EC form (salary and benefits)
• EPF statement, insurance and takaful statements
• Receipts for medical, education, lifestyle, and family-related claims
• SSPN statement (net deposit)
• Any relevant letters or certification where required (example: medical condition certification for parents’ medical claims)

If you run a business or freelance, keep your sales records and expense documents organised too. It makes filing easier and protects you if you are selected for review. 

10 Tax Reliefs to Check in 2026

Below are 10 practical reliefs most Malaysians should review. The limits and categories are based on HASiL’s relief list for Year of Assessment 2025.

1. Individual Relief

This is the “starting block” for your total reliefs, so it affects your final chargeable income even though it feels routine. It is usually straightforward for resident individuals, but mistakes happen when personal details are outdated. 

Relief limit: RM9,000

Good habit: Double check your personal details are correct in MyTax, especially if you updated marital status or dependents recently. 

2. Family Relief (Spouse and Children)

The safest move is to match each child to the exact category in the official list before keying it in, because different situations have different rules. 

Spouse relief limit: RM4,000 (including alimony payments to a former wife under the listed conditions).

Child Reliefs (Common Examples):

• RM2,000 per child (unmarried, under 18)
• RM2,000 per child (unmarried, 18 and above, in full-time study or training)
• RM8,000 per child (unmarried, 18 and above, in higher education such as diploma or degree and above)
• Additional categories apply for disabled children and education status, so the safest move is to match your child’s situation to the exact category before you key it in.

Proof to keep: birth certificate, marriage certificate, study confirmation letter, and any supporting documents if applicable.

3. EPF and Life Insurance or Takaful

This is important for individuals who are self-employed or have mixed income because you need to rely on your annual statements to key in the right amounts. Keep your EPF statement and your insurance or takaful annual statement separate, and claim within the correct split.

Relief limit: RM7,000 (restricted)

It is split into:

• EPF contributions up to RM4,000
• Life insurance premium or family takaful contributions up to RM3,000

Common mistake: Mixing this up with PRS or counting the same premium under multiple sections. Keep your annual statements clean and separate.

4. Education Fees (Self)

This covers recognised education and upskilling categories which is useful if you invest in skills that support career progression or better business execution. The cleanest way to claim is to keep official receipts and payment proof, plus course details that show what the programme is, especially for short courses. If a course looks “general” on the receipt, add supporting documents like the invoice description or course outline so it is clear what you paid for.

Relief limit: RM7,000 (restricted)

What to prepare:

• Official receipts or payment proof
• Course details that show what the programme is (especially for short courses)

If you are the kind of entrepreneur malaysia readers who invests in skills every year, this is one of the most useful reliefs to track properly

5. Medical Expenses (Self, Spouse, Child)

This relief covers eligible medical expenses including categories like serious diseases and fertility treatment, with specific sub-limits for items such as vaccination and dental under the official list. Keep itemised receipts, and if your claim requires medical practitioner certification, store the letter together with the receipt set so it is audit-ready. 

Relief limit: RM10,000 (restricted)

To claim cleanly:

• Keep itemised receipts
• If the claim requires medical practitioner certification, keep that together with the receipts
• Do not mix personal wellness spending with medical treatment claims

6. Parents and Grandparents Medical Support

This relief covers eligible medical treatment, dental treatment, special needs, and career expenses for parents, plus complete medical examination within the stated sub-limit. What makes or breaks the claim is documentation: certification where required, and receipts that clearly show the parent’s name, clinic, and service.

Relief limit: RM8,000 (restricted) 

What makes or breaks this claim:

• Medical condition certification where required
• Receipts that clearly show the parent’s name, clinic, and service
• Avoid claiming general supplements or non-medical items under this category

This relief is especially relevant for families balancing work, caregiving, and household finances, which is a reality many in the wider entrepreneur community talk about openly now.

7. Lifestyle Relief

Lifestyle relief typically includes items like books and publications, personal devices, internet subscription, and certain course fees, based on the official category rules for the year.

Relief limit: RM2,500 (restricted)

Best practice: Create one folder and drop receipts monthly, instead of trying to reconstruct everything in April.

If you run a website for business owners, it is worth also keeping your personal lifestyle receipts separate from business expense receipts so your filing stays clean.

8. SSPN Net Deposit

SSPN relief is up to RM8,000, and it is based on net deposit, meaning deposits minus withdrawals for the year, not the total you put in. This is why two people who deposited the same amount can have different claimable figures if one withdrew during the year.

Relief limit: RM8,000 (restricted)

This is based on net deposit, not total deposits. If you topped up and withdrew within the year, your net figure matters.

What to keep: official SSPN statement showing the net deposit figure for the relevant year.

9. PRS and Deferred Annuity

This relief is capped at RM3,000 and is often skipped because it feels optional, but it is one of the simplest to document if you plan long-term. Keep your PRS or deferred annuity annual statement and ensure the contribution amount is entered under the correct section. 

Relief limit: RM3,000 (restricted)

10. First Home Loan Interest (for Eligible Purchases)

This relief is meant to ease the early financial load of buying your first home by allowing eligible borrowers to claim part of the interest paid on their housing loan. It mainly benefits new homeowners who are still stabilising monthly commitments, especially in the first few years of ownership. 

Relief limit depends on residential house price:

• Up to RM7,000 (house price up to RM500,000)
• Up to RM5,000 (house price exceeding RM500,000 up to RM750,000)

It applies where the sale and purchase agreement is from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2027.

What to keep: loan statements showing interest paid, plus your sale and purchase agreement details.

Common Mistakes That Cost People Money

These are the patterns that usually cause trouble later:

• Claiming under the wrong category because the wording looks similar
• Missing sub-limits (example: parts of medical have their own caps)
• Not keeping proof for seven years, even though you did not need to upload it during submission
• Mixing personal claims with business expenses if you run a side business

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Do I need to submit receipts during e-Filing?

No, but you must keep them for seven years.

2. When does e-Filing start for filing in 2026?

From 1 March 2026 for Year of Assessment 2025 forms.

3. Where do I check the official relief limits?

Use HASiL’s Tax Reliefs list for the relevant Year of Assessment and match your receipts to the exact category.

4. If I forgot to claim a relief, can I fix it later?

Yes. You can submit an amendment within the allowed period through MyTax and keep the same supporting documents in case of review.

5. What happens if I can’t find a receipt for a claim?

It is safer not to claim it. If you are selected for an audit, you may be asked to prove the expense, so missing proof can lead to the claim being disallowed.

Conclusion

If you want the simplest rule that works every year, claim what you are genuinely eligible for, keep the proof properly, and treat your reliefs like a yearly habit, not a one-week scramble. For small business and SME in Malaysia, clean records help you file faster and avoid mistakes. If you are building momentum as an entrepreneur in Malaysia, reliefs are a legal way to reduce chargeable income when you claim correctly. Save receipts monthly, and filing becomes quick, calm, and predictable.

Image: Imageif

If you have the intention to run a company – small or big – one day, you will have to be familiar with the financial terms and procedures.

By learning these business finance basics, you’re one step ahead in understanding the overall business and your role within. To keep their companies profitable, business owners should have a solid understanding of the principles of finance. 

Revenue and Expenses

Revenue is used to describe the income earned through the sale of goods and services to customers. Expense is then the term to describe a cost incurred in the process of producing or offering a service.

Every transaction should be recorded. How much is coming in, how much is going out as well where is it is all coming from and going to.

Cash Flow Statement

One of the most useful financial management tools, Cash Flow Statement shows you how cash is flowing in and out of a business.

It is important to record the cash your business expenditures so you’ll have an accurate number of expenses each year. Keep detailed petty cash records too when you record cash expenditures.

Inventory

Recording your inventory is like checking your company’s stock. You should record information such as dates purchased, stock numbers, purchase prices, dates sold, and sale prices.

Documenting your inventory will help you to forecast for the upcoming trends and minimize inventory costs because goods will only be are created or received when needed. Inventory record also prevents stealing and misplacing goods.

Accounts Receivable and Payable

Accounts payable are amounts that a company owes because it purchased goods or services on credit from a supplier. Accounts payable are liabilities.

Accounts receivable are amounts that a company has a right to collect because it sold goods or services on credit to a customer.  Accounts receivable are assets.

Make sure you keep track of what customers owe you and the debts you owe others too. Record as much data as possible including invoice dates, numbers, amounts paid or due, dates and client information.

Payroll

A payroll is a company’s list of its employees and the term normally refers to the total amount of money that a company pays to its employees, records of employees’ salaries, wages and bonuses.

Preparing for Tax Time

Once you have your finance in order, preparing for taxes should be easy. With your books in order and organized, you will have accurate records and receipts for calculations. This will indeed save you the hassle from having to go back figuring things out.

Have you ever heard of a radio ad that ends like this: ‘This message is brought to you by MBSB, your financial provider’?

And indeed, MBSB is one of the prominent financial providers here in Malaysia. MBSB stands for Malaysia Building Society Berhad and it’s a financial provider company which engages in the finance market activities and other related financial services. Over the years since its establishment in 1950, MBSB has transformed from a mortgage provider into a financial provider of retail and corporate loans.

Malaysian Build­ing Society Bhd (MBSB) is one of the main players by being the financial bank for SMEs in the country, encouraging their growth by providing the right financing packages.

MBSB had disbursed over RM500 million since it carried out its SME programme in January 2011. In 2012, it has increased the allocation to RM750 million.

If you’re looking for financing options for your business, check out these financial products offered by MBSB:

A SME Plus-/

For Small and Medium sized enterprises, A SME Plus-I is designed to administer employee benefit plans, primarily with 5-150 employees. It is a one-stop source for all your employees’ benefit needs, providing maximum protection against unexpected scenarios such as death, disability, critical illness and also, escalating medical expenses.

Corporate Financing

This financial product can assist you with financing for working capital requirements and/or for the purchase of raw materials. It is also available to finance the acquisition of assets and additional production line for business expansion.

Equipment Financing-i

Equipment Financing-i offers financing for you to acquire commercial vehicles and machineries or equipments. Through this financing, you get to rent the usage of the assets and/or subsequently purchase the assets from MBSB.

Commercial Property Financing

Commercial Property Financing can help you with the acquisition of commercial or industrial properties which is already completed or still under construction. This facility is also made available to refinance completed properties or other assets as approved by MBSB.

Private Sector PF-i

We’ve previously discussed in ‘Personal loans for Business in Malaysia’ that personal loans can be a great financing option to fund your business. Private Sector PF-i is one of MBSB’s personal financing products that may assist your business. The financing amount is up to RM300,000 and it’s open to permanent employees of MBSB’s listed agencies, companies and subsidiaries, permanent professional employees with valid professional certificate of private companies and self-employed practicing professional with minimum 2 years of business or firm establishment.

Turning 30 is a milestone that compels people to look back on what they have accomplished in the decade prior. This is the age where adult expectations and responsibilities start to catch up, and one area that might be at the forefront of Malaysians’ minds is personal finance.

Here are six areas that may be keeping you up at night if you’re in your 30s – and if you aren’t thinking about these, perhaps it’s time to start.

1. Neglecting to budget

In your 20s, optimism – and perhaps “fear of missing out” – guides your spending habits. Graduates probably start their career needing to pay off student loans. Most deductions are handled by employers. Salaries received are likely net take-home pay.

After a couple of years of working, however, financial commitments start to pile up. Don’t make the mistake of not preparing a budget, which gives you an overview of how much you actually get to spend after deducting commitments.

Start by identifying your income for the month. How much do you take home after statutory deductions such as your EPF, Socso, and EIS contributions?

Depending on your employers, your tax and zakat may have already been deducted on your behalf. If this is not the case, you will need to set aside some funds to pay the amount owed at the end of the tax year.

Your expenses include cost of living, which covers items such as monthly groceries, rent, phone bills, personal grooming expenses, petrol, and travel. Financial commitments include your credit card and loan repayments, including car and study loans.

Besides these generally fixed expenses, you could include ad hoc line items such as entertainment and shopping.

For the purpose of accounting, savings and investments are not expenses per se. Still, whether you want to put these down as an “expense” or in their own unique category is up to you.

With a budget at hand, you know how much is earmarked for commitments, savings and spending in that particular month. Tracking your expenses becomes easier and, when push comes to shove, you have an idea of which item to reduce or eliminate entirely.

2. Not building up different funds

The second personal finance mistake one may make in one’s 30s is not setting aside enough extra funds, such as an emergency fund that you could draw from in the event you lose your job, or should something happen that requires urgent and immediate financial output.

When you have to tap into your emergency fund, your goal is to replace the sum utilised as soon as you can. It’s good to consistently adhere to a minimum threshold.

You should also consider building ad hoc funds, which could be for postgraduate studies, getting married, or purchasing your first home. While Malaysians’ EPF contributions allow them to tap into Account 2 for education and home purchase, this should be a last resort – it would be better to retain your contributions to help your retirement years.

Then there’s something called a “doodad fund”, for spending on miscellaneous goods or services every now and then, such as investing in the latest gadgets, or for your travels or hobbies.

3. Not exploring different investment vehicles

Technology and competition in the financial space have created a myriad of savings and investment vehicles beyond the traditional savings, current, and fixed-deposit accounts.

For those who are intimidated by the complexities of the stock market, consider unit trusts, where investors pool their resources together in the fund managed by reputable fund houses.

Different funds offer different risks and investment focus. Broadly, there are five types of funds: equity funds, fixed-income funds, money market funds, balanced funds, and shariah funds.

Then there are Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). The concept is similar to unit trusts where investors pool their money together, but the exposure is limited to the basket of shares within the stock market.

One could also venture into P2P business financing, where investors fund financing facilities applied by micro, small, and medium enterprises.

The more risk-averse among you could venture into the stock market, crypto assets, as well as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

In one’s 30s, it is important to be aware of these different vehicles and the necessary knowledge to successfully utilise them to achieve your financial goals.

4. Not minding one’s debts

Unchecked, one’s outstanding credit card balance could balloon to the max – a dangerous situation, especially if one only services the bare-minimum monthly repayment.

What leads to this increase? Often it is either owing to emergency or impulse purchases. That is the danger of spending without a budget or not having the appropriate funds set aside.

Having a massive amount of debt affects your credit score, which indicates to financial institutions – and some employers – how likely you are to repay our debt. Each time you apply for credit or loan, these institutions would get a credit report from an authorised credit rating company.

It is recommended you check your credit report and score at least once a year to see and evaluate your creditworthiness. Often these reports come with suggestions on how to improve your score, as well as how you fare compared with other Malaysians.

5. Not having enough protection

This is another crucial component in personal finance: having enough protection. Don’t make the mistake of not having insurance or being underinsured. Insurance providers offer different plans that cater to different needs and levels of protection.

The most basic insurance to have is health/medical insurance, also known as a medical card, to help cover the costs of hospitalisation. While health insurance in Malaysia is not all-encompassing, it does tend to cover major medical costs, while some have additions such as critical illness coverage.

Another insurance plan you should have is life insurance, which is there to provide financial protection for your family should something unexpected happen to you. The payment will be paid out in lump sum to your beneficiaries (or to you, in the case of permanent disability).

After covering these bases, you should then consider other specialised insurance plans to protect yourself and your family:

• Mortgage Reducing Term Assurance (MRTA), which helps you pay off your home loan in the event of your death and other permissible circumstances;
• credit card debt insurance, which helps settle the outstanding sum accumulated on your credit card upon your death, permanent disability, or critical illness; and
• other insurance plans and policies such as property and motor insurance.

6. Not saving for retirement

Finally, do not make the mistake of not saving for your retirement. Preferably, your retirement fund should be kept in a different financial vehicle that you cannot easily access.

Saving for retirement is also why you should try to avoid touching your EPF – even Account 2 – as much as possible, so you can rely on the power of compounding and dividend yields.

Besides EPF, the government has introduced the private retirement scheme (PRS), intended to supplement statutory contributions made to the EPF. Similarly, PRS contributions and savings can only be accessed once the individual reaches age 55.

Source : FMT

By Roubeeni Mohan

International bank HSBC Malaysia announced the launch of the HSBC Supply Chain Finance (HSCF) platform – a global tool with compelling benefits for the Bank’s customers and their trade partners through automation and enhanced usability, including the simplification of on-boarding suppliers.

The HSCF platform is an electronic platform that enables customers to upload approved invoices catering to basic file upload and Host to Host requirements.

“At HSBC, we are always looking for new ways to leverage technology to provide our customers with digital products and services that are simple, convenient and secure. The HSCF platform enables buyers to provide its suppliers access to competitive early payments, where interest rates are based on the buyer’s credit relationship with HSBC – benefiting both parties,” said Andrew Sill, Country Head of Commercial Banking, HSBC Malaysia.

Customers can transmit approved invoices and payment files to the bank anytime, anywhere, allowing for accelerated early payments to suppliers.

Beyond speed, the platform provides suppliers with visibility into the status of buyer-approved invoices from HSBC, even if the supplier is not a direct HSBC customer.

HSCF is the latest addition to HSBC Malaysia’s suite of digital trade capabilities, which will help support the nation’s aspiration for Malaysian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to make up 41% of Malaysia’s GDP by 2020. By adopting innovative trade financing services, customers can become more agile.

Norashikin, Chief Treasury Officer of KFH Malaysia

By Roubeeni Mohan

Kuwait Finance House (Malaysia) Berhad (KFH Malaysia) and fintech startup MoneyMatch announced a strategic collaboration to provide cross-border payments for its customers.

The collaboration, the first of its kind between a foreign Islamic bank and a local fintech startup, enables the bank to deliver cutting-edge, Shariah-based solutions to its customers.

“KFH Malaysia is always seeking ways to innovate and grow the Islamic banking landscape in the country. The partnership with MoneyMatch enables our customers to perform cross border payments at an affordable, transparent and swift manner. In addition, this is in-line with the aspiration of Bank Negara Malaysia for financial institutions to provide value added services to customers by leveraging on fintech-based solutions” said KFH’s Chief Treasury Officer, Norashikin Mohd Kassim.

MoneyMatch Sdn Bhd revolutionised cross-border payments for businesses and individuals with the introduction of MoneyMatch Transfer in June 2017.

With less than two years in operation, MoneyMatch has made waves by introducing competitive foreign exchange rates and fees in the market with significantly faster transmission period compared to the traditional financial institutions.

To celebrate the launch of this collaboration, KFH Malaysia customers will be entitled to a 100 percent service fee waiver promotion for all native-currency cross-border payments made via its physical branches nationwide – valid until 31 August 2019.

By Roubeeni Mohan

HSBC has appointed Malaysian Lim Eng Seong to succeed James Gossip as Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Deputy CEO) effective 1 July 2019. Gossip will be retiring after an eight year-stint in Malaysia.

The foreign bank is confident that with his calibre and background, Lim will play a key role in building on HSBC’s robust franchise in Malaysia.

“The appointment of a Malaysian to a very senior role here demonstrates HSBC’s recognition of local talent to drive to drive the local business. With his leadership skills and substantial years of experience in the banking sector and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), we look forward to Eng Seong working closely with our leadership team in Malaysia in leading HSBC’s next phase of growth in the country,” said Stuart Milne, Chief Executive Officer, HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd.

Lim brings a deep understanding of the Malaysian market, both from his time with HSBC as well with a large FMCG Company, where he has worked for 12 years across ASEAN countries before joining HSBC.

A graduate of University Malaya, Lim joined HSBC in 2007. In his 12 years with HSBC, the Melaka-born has worked in both Malaysia and Hong Kong.

He was the Country Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management in Malaysia, and most recently was in Hong Kong working in Commercial Bank.

With the rising cost of living becoming an ever more ubiquitous concern amongst the average Malaysian, the government has mooted an index to measure the cost of living more accurately as to assist employers in determining the appropriate salary increase.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, speaking at the launch of the government’s new guide “Belanjawanku – Panduan Perbelanjaan untuk Individu dan Keluarga di Malaysia”, said that the Consumer Price Index did not reflect the situation accurately as it did not take into account factors like business production cost.

EPF chief executive officer Tunku Alizakri Alias echoed the Finance Minister’s comments, adding that the contribution of 12 per cent and 11 per cent by employers and employees respectively was the fifth highest in the world, and the concern should be making sure workers had more money in their pockets as raising the percentage of contribution would likely impact both employees and employers.

New Tech In An Old Industry

Rohit Chandrasekharan Nambiar, CEO of AXA AFFIN Life Insurance

Our editorial team navigated through the twisted and congested KL city streets on a typical sunny Malaysian afternoon, and after much ado managed to arrive at Menara Chulan, where the AXA AFFIN Life Insurance Headquarters are located. Our host and interviewee for the day, Mr Rohit, greeted us with a warm smile and a personal office tour.

The office adopts an open working environment concept and the common area was crowded with people working side by side on extremely long desks. We were hoping to visit Mr Rohit’s private room behind one of the glass panels outlining the common area, but we were ushered to a plain desk space right smack in the middle of the busy working environment. “Welcome to my office!” Rohit said with a smile. We were astonished. “This is…your office?” we asked.

“I do not particularly appreciate working alone away from everyone else, so I moved in together with them.” Rohit justified. “The higher you climb, the bigger your cubicle. But at theend of the day, it is still a cubicle.” This is Mr Rohit Chandrasekharan Nambiar, CEO of AXA AFFIN Life Insurance, and beside his desk, perhaps the company’s unluckiest employee.

Digi Digital Day

Insurance is boring, yes, but it’s also a necessity whose benefits you’ll only see when you truly need it. This century-old practice is important to our everyday lives, and arguably one of the major pillars that modern society is built upon. Complicated payout structures, policy variance, eligibility requirements, mountains of paperwork has made insurance unapproachable, non-user friendly and frankly, unnecessarily cumbersome. But Mr Rohit somehow made the subject exciting and interesting, and more importantly, easily digestible for common folks like you and me.

The Journey

As it turns out, Mr Rohit is one of the youngest CEOs in the insurance company sector here in Malaysia. He embraces the millennial mindset, and uses it to his advantage to come up with new and interesting ideas. More importantly, he is true to himself, and he is not afraid of voicing out his thoughts to others.

“I have been working for AXA for 15 years now. I have been transferred to 5 different
countries and have taken up 11 different roles throughout my time in the company. I started out as an Analyst in India, and slowly worked my way through the ranks in United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong and now finally, in Malaysia.

This is by no means a life plan that I set out, or anything grandiose like that. Like most people, I have always thought insurance as the most boring thing imaginable. I used to work in a public relations firm, and I have always wanted to work in the creative advertising industry. Then I stumbled upon an analyst job which came up in AXA. It was then, that I realized it’s a fantastic profession to be in.

Insurance is a strong calling for me. There are only very few professions in the world that can proudly say without a doubt, that their work has truly helped people in desperate need. To those young people who think insurance is boring, I urge them to work with me for three months. I’m confident that I can change their minds.” says Rohit.

Started in 2006, AXA AFFIN Life Insurance is actually the youngest insurance company in Malaysia. From the name itself, we know that AXA AFFIN is a joint venture between AXA Insurance and Affin Bank. Affin Bank opens the door to the local market by providing network and reach, while AXA provides the expertise and experience in insurance.

An Industry Overview

Insurance has always been a pen-and-paper service. Yes, in recent years, we have digitised a significant part of our daily processes. However, it is not clear how digital integration will ‘revolutionise’ the industry. What can AXA AFFIN do that other industry players cannot?

“The insurance industry is on the verge of a major disruption. It has remained dormant and stagnant for way too long. Our policies and pricing structure have become too overly complicated for the common man to understand. Our current system heavily favours the traditional models of distribution, making the premiums unnecessarily expensive.

Different consumers require different propositions. When it comes to insurance, there is no such thing as a one size fit all solution. Traditional agencies generally target large families, married couples with children, people who owns property and cars, the people who can afford to pay for insurance in the first place. To me, that market is already saturated and it is hard to differentiate ourselves from the crowd. But, there are many neglected socio-economic groups that desperately need protection as well. According to our surveys, the B40 group and millennials are heavily under-penetrated, and these are the sectors that we are aiming to help.

Our goal right now is to simplify our product, our business proposition and communication framework, to finally make insurance accessible for everyone. We need to take complicated matters out of the picture and focus on the main reason insurance exists – which is to provide protection.

The Solution

The three problems consumers have with the current system can be summarized as such:

1. It is too expensive
2. It is too complex
3. It takes up too much time

The team behind AXA AFFIN took these problems to heart and created an online health insurance distribution platform with AXA eMedic – the first-in-the-market online Medical Card. This step will significantly reduce operating costs, and in turn reduce the prices of the policies offered to one fifth of the original price.

Initial trials show that registration and applying for insurance online do not take more than 5 minutes. Policies and medical cards info are stored in an app called myHealth Portal and can be accessed anywhere by the policyholder. Insurance claims can also be submitted via the app as well. We have a live chat support system called “Ask Michelle” that helps the customer navigate through the purchasing process or any other related enquiries.

“With the traditional system, we collected a lot of un-necessary information when applying for insurance. We don’t see why we need to make it complex for everyone and drag out the process. It is better to just obtain information through follow-ups and direct engagements with the customers. A non-smoker five years ago could be a smoker now. That is why agents play an important role in our ecosystem.”

Mr Rohit said that agents will slowly move away from the traditional role of a salesperson to become highly-trained professional consultants. “Sooner or later, only highly qualified professionals will remain in the business,” said Rohit.

We also build sales entrepreneurs by providing a funding scheme to young agents to help them during their set up year. We utilized our strong digital presence to provide them with leads. 27% of their new sales come from the digital leads we sourced for them.

With the core business model and the groundwork set up, the team have come up with
several other supplementary services that help streamline the process. An ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure, and AXA AFFIN is taking preventive measures to
encourage customers to live a healthier lifestyle.

Step It Up+ is the first in the market transformational wellness programme with two customised campaigns – “Fitter Me” and “Better Me” to motivate Malaysians to lead a healthier lifestyle with cashback rewards.

“Fitter Me” motivates customers to meet their desired fitness goal by increasing their step count and get rewarded with cashback up to 24% on their first year annual premium. “Better Me” empowers customers to improve their health with a dedicated online health coach and get rewarded with cash back incentives up to RM600 once they achieve certain health milestones.

Combating Fraud

According to Rohit, insurance fraud is a significant issue that has been plaguing the industry since its inception. In other countries, the percentages of fraud cases can reach up to 10%, and this number only accounts for detected cases, not including undetected ones. That is why insurance companies are overly cautious when processing claims, which drags out investigations, which in turn upsets the customers.

“Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) can be used to combat fraud by identifying and reporting potential fraud cases” Rohit shares. “It is expected that 70% of the customers will get an easy experience filing for insurance claims, while the remaining 30% will be flagged for suspicious activities.”

AXA AFFIN plans to add the fraud detection system once the A.I. technology matures, but this is not the first time that they have brushed shoulders with this technology.

Problems With Artificial Intelligence / Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

“Some years back, I was the Chief Operating Officer in another AXA entity, where RPA was just starting to gain traction. It was an exciting time for us. The technology had made some of the processes 80% more efficient, and work can be finished in mere minutes vs. days earlier.

Unfortunately, there was a mistake in the algorithms, and the system produced 3,000 duplicated invoices. The then Chief Financial Officer was going mad due to the unexpected work, and they had to fix the 3,000 invoices one by one manually. The entire company went on damage control, and it took us some time to get back on track.

It was emotionally and mentally draining for me. I had two options. Either I give up and let the problem fester, or suck it up, find out what’s wrong and fix it before it creates more problems. It was one of the biggest lessons I have learnt in my life. I am responsible for my actions and there was no one else that can pick up the mess. The essence of agile is to fail fast and rectify progressively.

Make no mistake. We are not a tech company. We are still first and foremost an insurance company and it is important to not lose sight of your goals to fancy technologies. We are selling protection, and we are prepared to use any technology in order to reach that goal,” Rohit finished with a note of iron in his voice.

Core Values & Culture

Not many people can bounce back immediately after a major blunder, but it seems that the RPA incident had merely been a small obstacle for Mr Rohit’s resolve. He let us in on his three core values that got him to where he is today – Courage, Empowerment and Collaboration.

“The incident is by far not the largest mistake that I have made. I take risks all the time, and I fail all the time. Plans will definitely backfire and we are left to pick up the pieces. However, risks need to be taken in order to grow your company, and you can’t take risks without courage.

I also believe in the power of empowerment. As a leader your job is to empower others, only then they will achieve great things. In AXA AFFIN, we let people take charge and give them the power to oversee work from the start till the very end. Everyone is permitted to fail, because there is no such thing as getting things done without fail. We encourage employees to test ideas, innovate, adapt and succeed through trial and error.

Regarding collaborations, we are currently working together with nine different partners. We may be large on a global scale, but we are the smallest insurance company here in Malaysia. I see scale as a challenge and opportunity because we are able to evolve and adapt much faster than our competitors.

As a small scale company, our marketing and advertising budget will always have a ceiling. This is where partnerships come in handy, and we have collaborated with Digi, which has more than 11 million subscribers. We have a straightforward business model. We work with almost everyone and we never hesitate to seize an exciting opportunity,” shared Rohit.

Mindset Challenge

The company goals and the methods to achieve it are crystal clear. But Rohit shares that the biggest challenge the company is facing right now is not external, but internal in regards to the employee’s traditional mindsets.

“The problem with the traditional brainstorming is that great ideas will get shut down before they can show any potential. Whenever someone comes up with an idea, everyone will be thinking ‘what could possibly go wrong with this idea?’

At AXA AFFIN, we want to do the opposite. When an idea is given, everybody present can never say no to it and must think of reasons why the idea might work. After a few ideas have been thrown around, we then cast a vote to pick the top three ideas that holds the most potential and makes the most substantial impact. Only then we will discuss the risks, challenges and dependencies of the ideas.

Ideas need time and space to bear fruit. I want to train my employees to see the potential in everything. That is what it means to embody the entrepreneurial spirit. This paradigm shift will take time to cultivate. We need to change our mindset quickly, because if we don’t change ourselves, other people will change it for us,” warned Rohit.

Youth Leading The Way

Before ending the interview, we asked Mr Rohit about his plans for the future. “We want to be the preferred health and protection insurer. We want young people to work with us, and I want to give them space to cultivate new and innovative ideas. We are looking for more partners to collaborate with us to provide better solutions for the public. We want to make working with us fun and exciting for employees, but uncomfortable enough to push us past our limits. But most of all, we want people to be able to live life and grow families without worry. That is what insurance is for,” said Rohit.

Amidst a slowing global economy and a trade war between the US and China, it was perhaps expected that the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) would pay out a lower divided for the 2018 fiscal year. However, the EPF declared a dividend rate of 6.15 per cent for Simpanan Konvensional 2018 this last week, along with a 5.9 per cent dividend for Simpanan Shariah 2018.

The payouts total RM43 billion and RM4.13 billion respectively, with the EPF commenting “With a real dividend of 3.93 percent for Simpanan Konvensional and 3.68 percent for Simpanan Shariah on a rolling three-year basis respectively, the EPF has exceeded its mandate of delivering a dividend of at least 2.5 percent on a yearly basis and at least 2 percent real dividend on a rolling three-year basis,” in a statement.

However, the EPF also reported a 4.3% decline in its investment income in 2018, with EPF chief executive officer Tunku Alizakri Alias commenting that various factors including the aforementioned trade war, dipping oil prices, interest rate hikes, and the Brexit negotiations had stirred uncertainty in the markets. He also noted a period of uncertainty in the markets after Pakatan Harapan took over the federal government, unseating Barisan Nasional for the first time since the independence of Malaysia.