Wahed, a global fintech company that provides an efficient, reliable, and accessible way to invest, announced the appointment of Juliana Abu Bakar as Country Head of Wahed Technologies Sdn. Bhd. (Wahed Malaysia). Her responsibilities will include managing local offerings, implementing growth strategies and spearheading marketing and business development functions in Malaysia.    

Juliana Abu Bakar will be replacing Syakir Hashim - who has captained Wahed Malaysia from its inception. Syakir will be joining Wahed’s group management as its Senior Vice President of Business Operations. Under his leadership, Wahed Malaysia which was launched in October 2019, acquired over 250,000 clients and gained operational profitability.

Commenting on his new position and the appointment of Juliana Abu Bakar as Country Head, Syakir said: “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. I start my new role at Wahed in comfort, as I know I leave our Malaysia operations in great hands with Juliana.”

Juliana Abu Bakar brings years of experience to her new role at Wahed Malaysia. As the Head of Digital Wallet for Touch ‘n Go, she developed and operationalized Touch ‘n Go e-wallet as a new product, including obtaining related regulatory approvals from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM). She also successfully 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.

Juliana Abu Bakar’s appointment comes directly after Wahed announced former SEC Director Lori Richards joining its Board of Directors as the company’s first female director. Syakir Hashim added: “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.” 

“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’ve been passionate about inclusivity through fintech since I promoted the idea of financial inclusivity for cashless payment via E-Wallet in Malaysia. Now we can say cashless payment through various methods including E-Wallet has become the norm here. 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.” said Juliana Abu Bakar."