Singapore-based Sea Limited has partnered with Malaysian conglomerate YTL Group to launch Ryt Bank, an artificial intelligence-powered bank in Malaysia, according to an announcement.
The bank, licensed by Bank Negara Malaysia and touted as the world’s first AI-powered lender, features an AI assistant powered by ILMU, Malaysia’s first homegrown large language model (LLM).
The LLM model is said to have the ability to process natural conversations in Bahasa Malaysia, English, and colloquial Manglish.
The AI assistant can handle payments, track spending, and explain financial basics in simple terms, while offering personalised insights, per the announcement.
“Ryt Bank demonstrates that groundbreaking innovation can be imagined, built, and led right here in Malaysia,” said Dato Seri Yeoh Seok Hong, managing director of YTL Power International.
The bank, he added, aims to bridge cultural communities by offering services in multiple languages, with Mandarin support planned for September 2025.
The YTL-Sea venture was awarded a digital banking license by the country’s central bank in April 2022. Sea already runs the MariBank platform in Singapore.
The launch comes as Sea Limited’s net income for the second quarter jumped to $414 million, more than five times the $79.9 million reported a year ago, driven by strong performances across its e-commerce, digital finance, and gaming units.
