Meet the PayTech Trailblazer...

We sat down with Profesor Dr Rozainun Abdul Aziz PMK CA(M) who recently won the Trailblazer award at the EWPN in Amsterdam.

It's awarded to outstanding women and leaders who can demonstrate clear leadership, mentorship, integrity, ethical standards, and professionalism and continue to make positive contribution to the industry. It's easy to see why Rozainun was selected...

@womenoffintech: What can you tell us about your business and its views on equality?

I am in the education industry in a public government funded University in Malaysia, providing education from Diploma level, Degree, Professional, masters, to PhD levels.

Over the past 30-40 years the trend has transformed from a male-dominated students and lecturers to currently being female-dominated (albeit mainly in the non-science subjects).

In terms of equality, education is now seen to be giving equal opportunity to both male and female candidates, as long as they meet the entry requirements.

@womenoffintech: What interested you in this space?

The space that I would refer to is ‘education’ and ‘fintech’. The fact that I came from this institution (my university now) when I did my Diploma, gave me the awareness that this is the place that has given me the training, qualification and opportunity to work for a better career; so its only appropriate to give back and share what I have learned over the years with my students. In so doing, they will also be developed to fulfil the needs of the industry and economy, towards fintech as well. The knowledge they get from the university is basic, but the training they get from us will motivate them to explore in the real world and get themselves involved in fintech, even from any discipline, as they need to be well-versed with fintech anyway. Seeing students and graduates from my faculty, doing their part in the industry makes me feel that I am contributing towards the workforce of the industry. As such, I want to do more.

@womenoffintech: Did you find it difficult to break into this area as a female?

Not quite, as when I first joined the university, there were female lecturers already, though the number of male lecturers were still slightly higher compared to females.

She who chases, grabs faster for better deals.

The team I work with is just fabulous, we learn so much from each other, whether good or bad experiences, they are all lessons for us.

@womenoffintech: How have you settled into the business?

I just went along with the flow and requirements, as an obedient faculty staff. Taking a day at a time, a task at a time, taught me passion in the education industry, and wanting to contribute even more and more by the day.

I had to also consider and include my family when settling into my work and career path, but they also gave me the strength to persevere.

@womenoffintech: How have you seen the landscape change in FinTech in terms of equality?

I can see that men tend to dominate fintech, but the females are catching up. Female leadership is on the rise at the university, where women are appointed and elected to hold leading positions, which is a good sign, showing that there is more acceptance of women to play a more important role.

@womenoffintech: What do you think are the reasons for this change?

Current demands, education level and creativity of innovators, hunger for what is good and convenient yet secured, and within the control of authorities. The results and proven outcome of women involvement and ideas are the reason for changes in giving more opportunities to equality, in the so-called male dominant areas. Speed and accuracy are as important; the women are somehow good at managing these.

@womenoffintech: How does your company differentiate itself from its competitors from an equality perspective?

Healthy competition and giving equal opportunity to diverse backgrounds of people, collaborating with partners of same interests, where expertise is shared for a synergy outcome. The common interests and passion are key in our building up of a better relationship among networking partners and collaborators that are always encouraged by our employers and industry. Flexibility at work is also a factor that has allowed for women to manage work and family time too.

@womenoffintech: Where do you see the future of the market heading?

Very much less in face-to-face and physical presence of services especially not having to walk into the banking halls anymore. Perhaps the cloud will be the conduit for safe-keeping of our money. Still, the paper money might no longer be used, as we will be using chips and cards to transact business and services, exchanges, in buying and selling too. All systems and processes are viable and better from remote with top unhackable security and controls. FAQs are very close by to address any concerns and uncertainties by customers and stakeholders. Having the appropriate knowledge like forensic accounting and the regulatory requirements play a significant part in where the future of market is heading. The right mind set within the human resources and expertise will also determine the future of our fintech and payment network.

@womenoffintech: What do you feel are the biggest obstacles facing minorities in the industry?

Depending on the area of concern, if for example for a start-up and first-time entrepreneur, resources and know how is key. Not having the experience in business is also another problem. Sometimes we want to venture into a business that might not be familiar with. A good training mechanism and a good know-how sharing by experienced entrepreneurs should be made available to the population in order to get more women participation.

On financial inclusion, in Malaysia, there are people in the outskirts who are under-exposed to fintech and the internet. Sustainability should be voiced over again and again as a reminder of the going-concern concept in accounting; this means that in accounting, once a business is formed, it should continue and never to give up.

@womenoffintech: How do you plan to overcome those obstacles in your company?

By doing research, as this will set the tone of scientific investigation in that firstly, a problem is identified based on what is going around in the society; secondly, we check with the literature to see if this is the ‘talk-about-town’. Then we make comparisons. Then we establish the objectives, expectations, data, methodology, field work and expected findings and results. A pilot might be necessary if there is any concern to the execution of a full-blown study. Contribution will be key as the result of the research will bring value propositions to the problem and difficulty concerned.

@womenoffintech: What would you like to see change in FinTech as an industry?

There is transparency and reliability, with maximum security and no hacking; that the people respect one another and not to defraud the system and controls, to their personal advantage. Secondly, that there are more women involved in fintech today.

@womenoffintech: Is FinTech inclusive enough at the moment?

Personally, I do not think so, as there are further outreach that needs to be done in terms of providing and using fintech. Even the level of knowledge and usage can be an issue. Support from everyone, even in their small way, will create the pathway and determine the success of inclusivity.

@womenoffintech: What is the most exciting thing about FinTech for you personally?

The ability to digitise and make access worldwide and easy for everyone. The scale of advancement is also amazing, and it proves capability and creativity in a person who is passionate with systems and innovation.

@womenoffintech: Who has been the most inspirational person to you in your career journey and why?

My late father, whom I saw how he struggled through to bring us up with the right education and orientation. A man of little words, watching him in the army taught me discipline as he was very regimented, even at home. Through rank and file, he became an officer, promoted from the lowest rank in the army, ,’ a private’, right until a ’Major’ and a Quarter-Master. There was a lot of respect shown to his superiors and conforming to requirements as a soldier in the camp he was in. Even after he retired from the army, he never stopped working until the day he died in the holy grounds of Mecca. I never saw his body, but managed to bid him goodbye before he went off for his pilgrimage in 2005, while I took off to the UK for my PhD graduation. He encouraged and motivated me throughout.

I learned from him that life goes on and never stops, and that you will just have to keep on working for the family and for a better life. While you are at it, enjoy and develop the passion of hardwork equal to more gains to oneself and the rest. Any benefits are shared, and the satisfaction of seeing others happy is also a self-satisfaction too.                                                 

Secondly, is my husband who is always at my side, come what may, and who gives me the courage and support in anything I do. No words can better explain what sacrifices and ‘push’ factor he has for me.

@womenoffintech: To date, in your view, what disruptors have caused the most innovation in the industry?

Disruption is not something new. The more we fear of disruptors, the better we will prepare ourselves to predictions and surprises. As such modern approaches, contemporary gadgets and advanced systems would have to be in our vocab in order to stay relevant. I see fraud cases and cyber crime as among the fearful disruptors as the wrong-doers are out there to fail and paralyse systems and controls. We hear of fraudsters and hackers as their mindset moves towards enabling personal interest and personal gains. The more educated a person is and the more they know, the more they are vulnerable to exposures at the detriment of the society. Even with organisations stepping up their security and defense so unauthorised intervention is crippled, there is no guarantee that we are safe from cyber crimes.

@womenoffintech: What do you look forward to for the industry in 2019?

I look forward to seeing more women entrepreneurs in fintech and the payment network, to the extent of expanding fast into a public listed and giant companies in a short period of time. It might take a lot of courage and resources but if you put your mind to it, they’ll be able to make it. Of course, support from investors and government entrepreneurship initiatives should be there that would also contribute to success. Training and motivation are key if those entrepreneurs want to see growth and innovation in their business but nothing is impossible really.

Forensic Accounting and Fraud Management are my interests too, and it has to link closely with fintech, as system can be hacked easily if the hackers want to. There are potential hackers and hackers themselves out there, and we do not know when they will strike.

More abbout Profesor Dr Rozainun Abdul Aziz PMK CA(M) and her career journey so far....

It has been a very interesting journey to where I am right now. In terms of education, I have attended the Malaysian Government School, upon completion the school system, I joined a public institute for my Diploma in Accountancy (DIA) and graduated in 1981. Afterwards, I was awarded a scholarship to the UK, to pursue for a professional accountancy qualification, CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants). Four years later, I completed the examinations, and returned to Malaysia. Unfortunately, it was recession, 1986, and of the 50 over job applications I made, only two called me for an interview. I decided to take up the institute’s offer as a lecturer, which was then Institut Teknologi MARA (ITM), but now a university (UiTM). So, it has been 33 years now that I have been with this university.

From a humble beginning to a trusted, selected and appointed administrator, never had I expected that one day I would lead a Faculty as the Dean for three terms, in the only university having a Faculty of Accountancy, in Malaysia, if not the very few in the world. Usually Accountancy is with the Faculty of Economics, or business or management. But at UiTM, it is a special and niche area for the university. It had at one time, about 17,000 accounting students in 11 locations, the branches of UiTM all over the country, in almost all the states. There were over 500 accounting lecturers. We were the first and the only university offering professional accountancy programs namely CIMA, ACCA and MICPA then.

As the Dean, I have brought the Faculty, the first in UiTM, to penetrate the QS Ranking for Accounting and Finance, to #151-200 for two years running at 2016 and 2017. The Faculty also won Best Faculty at the Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Award 2017 and the Overall Champion for 2018, the results based on the Faculty’s performance during my tenure as the Dean. The assessment was based on excellence