A man walks past a branch of HSBC at the financial Central district in Hong Kong, June 2, 2015. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 — Banks in Malaysia have been investing in mobile banking application (apps) for the last two years, says HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd.

In a statement today, HSBC said, this included changing to native apps, adopting SamsungPay and chatbot.

"Banks are also adopting artificial intelligence such as IBM Watsons to handle customer queries and recommend products and are investing in alternative security identification (ID) such as touch ID, voice ID and facial recognition,” it said.

HSBC said Malaysia was one of the founding members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) and it was primed for a digital future.

"As Asean turns 50 this year, the growing importance of digital innovation will shape the next wave of eonomic development,” it said. — Bernama