Malaysia – Wahed, a New York-headquartered global fintech company has announced the appointment of Juliana Abu Bakar as country head of Wahed Malaysia. In her new role, Juliana will be responsible for managing local offers, implementing growth plans, and directing marketing and business development functions in Malaysia.
In her previous role as head of digital wallet at Touch ‘n Go, a Malaysian e-wallet platform, Juliana developed and operationalized Touch ‘n Go e-wallet as a new product, including obtaining related regulatory approvals from Bank Negara Malaysia. She also enhanced use cases for the e-wallet by collaborating with strategic partners, along with obtaining online and physical merchants to accept the e-wallet as a new form of cashless payment.
On her appointment, Juliana said, “My heart has always been in the fintech industry. What attracted me to Wahed the most is the fact that inclusivity is its main business objective. I’m looking forward to making the Wahed brand a household name for Malaysian investment needs and thus, achieving our objective of providing inclusivity in the world of finance.
Juliana will be replacing Syakir Hashim, who captained Wahed Malaysia from its inception. Meanwhile, Syakir will be joining Wahed’s group management as its SVP of business operations.
Syakir commented, “Today, we are one of the leading digital investment managers in Malaysia and I couldn’t be more grateful. I’d like to thank the Wahed Malaysia team, regulators and wider ecosystem for supporting us.”
“Juliana joining us marks Wahed’s aim to promote a strong female leadership team at the company. We also hope her decision to be part of Wahed will pave the way for more diverse talent to join us and help us to create the best financial services for consumers,” Syakir added.