KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's banking industry faces a major regulatory reporting overhaul as Bank Negara Malaysia moves towards automated, API-enabled submissions of granular data under Project Stream.
The five-year statistical reporting modernisation initiative aims to replace manual, template-based reporting with standardised, machine-readable data, initially covering deposits, payments and derivatives.
Finexus Group said the transition is already driving demand for technology solutions.
The company said it is engaging on Project Stream with 12 banking groups representing 23 of Malaysia's 58 licensed banking institutions, or about 40 per cent of the sector.
Another three banking groups are evaluating Finexus' AIRStream platform through tender processes.
Project Stream is guided by three principles: collect data once for multiple uses, automate collection and future-proof reporting.
The initiative addresses duplicate submissions, labour-intensive compilation using Excel templates and web interfaces, and limitations arising from aggregated, periodic reporting.
However, banks face challenges upgrading infrastructure, developing the necessary capabilities and meeting implementation timelines.
They may also need to maintain existing reporting systems while building new processes for granular submissions, which increases the complexity of data reconciliation and raises operational risks.
Once technical specifications are issued, reporting entities could have about 12-15 months to upgrade their systems, placing technology, compliance and data teams under pressure.
Institutions with complex legacy infrastructure may face higher technology spending, additional manpower requirements and implementation risks.
Bank Negara expects standardised data models and automation to reduce manual work and improve the timeliness, consistency and granularity of regulatory information.
These improvements could strengthen risk monitoring, enable better peer benchmarking and analytics, and support initiatives such as Open Finance.
Finexus' AIRStream, or Automated Intelligence Reporting for Stream, is designed to ease implementation by integrating with existing banking platforms rather than requiring a complete technology overhaul.
The platform automates data transformation, validation and reconciliation, including checks against banks' general ledgers and existing Bank Negara reporting systems to identify discrepancies before submission.
Finexus estimates AIRStream could reduce implementation and operating costs by about 20 per cent over five years.
It can also cut internal manpower requirements by more than half compared with developing and operating the capability in-house, the company claimed.
Finexus said the platform is already deployed at a Malaysian digital bank, which has submitted Stream data since November 2025.
In the first quarter of 2026, it processed about 565 million granular records, averaging more than six million daily, with each cycle completed in under three hours.
"Project Stream is an important step in strengthening Malaysia's financial infrastructure for the future," said Finexus Group founder, group managing director and chief executive officer Clement Loh.
He said AIRStream demonstrated how homegrown technology could help banks manage regulatory change while protecting existing investments and improving resilience.
It is built on more than 26 years of Finexus' regulatory reporting experience, with solutions supporting over 30 banks.
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