Malaysian Islamic digital bank AEON Bank (M) Berhad and electronic sports governing body Malaysia Esports Federation (MESF) have teamed up to nurture E-Sports talents among local youth.

The duo said in a statement on last Friday that they have recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), alongside two other strategic partners—Takaful Malaysia (Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Am Berhad) and Retromania.

The key scope of the MoU is to further develop and empower the esports industry, players, and the community through collaborations with strategic partners.

As the official digital banking partner, AEON Bank will work together with MESF in the scope include onboarding of MESF members and players onto the AEON Bank app, hence giving them seamless access to the full suite of Shariah-compliant digital banking to serve their daily digital transactions.

The bank will also be onboarding of MESF as a client of AEON Bank Biz and development of relevant commercial collaborations.

The scope includes adoption of AEON Bank’s safe, secure and Shariah-compliant banking to facilitate MESF’s fund management and disbursement of tournament prize money.

It also includes curation of MESF x AEON Bank-exclusive rewards and referral programs; development of MESF x AEON Bank co-branded debit card, special merchandise and
collaterals; cross promotion of MESF activities and esports champions across AEON Bank’s campaigns, channels, platforms and vice versa.

The bank will also involve in branding collaborations for upcoming tournaments, such as the SEA Games 2025 in Bangkok, Asian Youth Games 2025 in Bahrain, Asian Games 2026 in Japan, namely Aichi and Nagoya, Olympic Esports 2027 in Riyadh, ⁠and SEA Games 2027 in Malaysia, in collaboration with MESF and the Olympic Council Malaysia.

AEON Bank and MESF will continue to work together in exploring ways to make esports a catalyst for youth engagement and talent development in Malaysia, while cultivating the growth of a high potential industry that is relevant in this digital era.

According to the statement, electronic sports is now beyond just leisure-based video gaming as it involves professional or semi-professional players or teams competing against each other in structured competitions, tournaments and leagues, with prize money of significant value and income earning potential for the players.

MESF is a national sports association which was fostered by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Malaysia, in alignment with the commitment to raise the standards of Malaysian esports on a global stage.

As a governing body responsible for planning the development of esports players, coaches, and officials, the association acts as the custodian of all esports activities.

It aims to develop and promote esports as a competitive sport, as well as nurture it as a field for gaming champions, while discovering new and emerging talents to represent Malaysia in esports tournaments for local and international championships.

Being part of the AEON Group conglomerate, AEON Bank was launched in May 2024 as Malaysia’s first Islamic digital bank.

#Esports #DigitalBanking #YouthDevelopment #GamingCommunity #ShariahCompliant