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Fintech or financial technologies is currently a new phenomena in the banking and financial industry. Islamic Finance industry also embracing this new technology and sweeping across the financial world to be part of the revolution. The studies of Islamic Fintech is still limited and underexplored, particularly on the demand side i.e.consumer. This paper intended to examine the influence of spiritual intelligence quotient (SQ) to the behavioral intention of Islamic Fintech adoption among consumers in Malaysia. To achieve this objective, this paper adopts a content analysis approach. The analysis is drawn from the perusals of academic journals and relevant documents based on thematical theories in SQ and adoption of Islamic Fintech. The review has found that SQ have positive nexus with behavior of consumers in Islamic Fintech adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This research is set to assess the achievement of digital economy through digitalization adoption (DA) among Small Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). For more insightful findings, a comparison between the service-based and non-service-based industries was performed. Besides, it endeavours to identify the important and performing dimension of the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues. Design/methodology/approach: Quantitative approach through purposive sampling technique was used to collect data from the SMEs. Variance-based structural equation modeling was adopted to assess the model and multi-group analysis (MGA) was executed to examine the difference between the two classified industries. For the identification of the dimension, Importance-Performance Map Aanalysis (IPMA) was carried out. Findings: Technology and organization recorded significant positive influence on digitalization adoption but not environment. Digitalization adoption between the two classified industries shows divergent results. IPMA concur the importance and performance of the technology and organization dimension, in which SMEs shall focus on for digitalization adoption. Research limitations/implications: This is cross sectional research and data were collected at a single time frame. Hence, the result is a state-or-art finding. Assuming that if there are changes in government policies, the results may differ. Besides, there are other possible groupings that could affect the results in which is not covered in the present research. Practical implications: The findings imply that the DA amongst SMEs has yet to achieve its full spectrum, which indicates Malaysia has yet to fully embrace digital economy. Nevertheless, DA is the fundamental for a successful digital economy. Social implications: This research provides the general public an overview that SMEs are adopting digitalization with various degree. This specifies that the society is paving towards digitalization with the SMEs actively adopting more digital technologies. Originality/value: The novelty of this research arises from the utilization of the TOE framework to link to the achievement of the national digital economy. Additionally, current research adopted a rigorous approach to investigate the issue by using MGA, the hierarchical component model (HCM) and IPMA for holistic findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the digital economy and the emergence of new technologies are changing the way of doing business. In recent foreign direct investment (FDI) studies, factors in addition to conventional ownership-location-internalisation (OLI) factors have been explored to enrich the FDI model. This study looks at the roles of information and communications technology (ICT) telecommunication infrastructure on FDI in Malaysia. The two-step system generalised method of moments (GMM) approach is used. To overcome the limitations of the dynamic panel model on the "small groups" problem, this study uses five three-year average data for the period between 2002 to 2016, and the Windmeijer finite-sample correction, the robust standard errors for estimation. The results show a significant positive role of mobile telephony on FDI. Besides, institutional factors are found to have significant impacts on FDI. The findings indicate the importance of the institutional framework and ICT telecommunication infrastructure, which can be jointly used with the OLI paradigm to explain factors driving FDI in the new economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaysia's first attempt at digital economic transformation began in the mid-1990s and lasted for some fifteen years. The Multimedia Super Corridor had some initial success but underachieved in some areas. The second phase of strategic policies took place in the period 2016-21 with the launch of four successive policies and plans dealing with e-commerce, 4IR manufacturing and the digital economy. The legal and regulatory landscape for the digital economy has also evolved. However, significant challenges lie ahead given the prevailing digital divide and unevenness in ICT adoption across industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accelerating diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) opens up increasing interactions between nations and between social groups at all development levels. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of ICTs on the gross domestic product (GDP) of countries at different development levels. The investigation of this study shows that in developing nations, the growth of the ICT sector is mostly consumer-oriented and focussed on the provision of electronic services for ultimate customers. On the contrary, in developed countries, it concentrates on the expansion of digitalisation with increasing socio-economic interaction. In developing nations, the ICT sector's contribution to the GDP is unlikely to increase. A few exceptions are China, India, Malaysia, and Serbia, which are among the top ten leading economies in terms of the growth of the ICT sector. In general, the role of ICTs in the GDP largely depends on the production structure, level of economic development, and employment rate. The results of this study can be useful for countries' strategic development in ICTs and for improving their digital indicators in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital economy has become an essential key to unlocking rural economic growth in Malaysia with the launch of the Malaysia Digital Economic Blueprint (MyDIGITAL) by the government in February 2021. Online payment is a vital component of the digital economy and should be feasible even in rural areas since more than 80% of rural households had access to mobile broadband in 2019. Nevertheless, many are still using cash-based payments to make purchases. Thus, this study aims to observe online payment acceptance, particularly in Kelantan, from the rural retailers' perspective. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and User of Technology (UTAUT) was applied by observing three determinants of behavioural intention to adopt online payment and a quantitative research method, i.e. questionnaire distribution via social media (Facebook) to 384 respondents, was used. The results were analysed using descriptive analysis, reliability test, and Pearson's correlation analysis. Among the three variables examined, only two significantly affected rural retailers' behavioural intention to adopt online payment, namely security and performance expectancy. With this information, the government could prepare more targeted, proactive design interventions (e.g., training, marketing, etc.) for rural retailers who are reluctant to use online payment. Hopefully, this research can help online payment services offered in rural areas and the implementation of MyDIGITAL to unlock rural economic growth. Besides, the aim is to inspire future researchers to continue this study with more extensive and complex research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]