KUALA LUMPUR, 14 September 2026 – Ouch Protect Berhad (Ouch!), an aspiring Malaysian digital family takaful operator, has announced a strategic partnership with UK-based fintech infrastructure provider mmob and SENNI as it works towards developing an AI-native family takaful capability. As part of the collaboration, mmob founder and director Arsalaan (Oz) Ahmed will work closely with Ouch!’s leadership team on the development of its technology capabilities and the strategic positioning of the company within the Islamic finance ecosystem.

Arsalaan (Oz) Ahmed

The partnership will focus on developing two key capabilities. The first involves open-finance infrastructure through mmob, which is intended to enable family takaful products to be arranged through channels that consumers already use. The second is an AI-governance layer through SENNI, designed to record model-assisted decisions and the basis for those decisions at the point they are made. By developing both capabilities in parallel, Ouch! aims to embed governance into its distribution and technology architecture from the outset rather than introducing it at a later stage.

The move comes as Ouch! prepares to apply for Bank Negara Malaysia’s Digital Insurers and Takaful Operators licence, with the application window scheduled to close on 31 December 2026. Any licence granted remains subject to assessment and approval by Bank Negara Malaysia. The company is positioning its digital-first approach as part of its ambition to make family takaful more accessible by bringing protection products closer to the channels and platforms consumers already use.

The opportunity for greater accessibility comes amid a significant protection gap in Malaysia. According to the Malaysian Takaful Association, approximately 46 per cent of Malaysians, equivalent to around 14 million people, do not have personal financial protection. Meanwhile, the Malaysian Takaful Association Annual Report 2025 recorded RM20.1 billion in takaful net contributions in 2025, representing 5.6 per cent growth, compared with 2.0 per cent growth for conventional insurance.

Ouch! aims to scale its operations nationally as it works towards its ambition of becoming the world’s first AI-native family takaful operator. The company believes that combining open-finance infrastructure with built-in AI governance could help create a more accessible and transparent approach to digital takaful, while ensuring that technology-assisted decisions can be properly recorded and explained.

Commenting on the partnership, Mohd Shazwan Bin Noorazman, Chief Executive Officer of Ouch Protect Berhad, said the company sees the protection gap as an issue of accessibility rather than a lack of consumer interest in financial protection. He highlighted the importance of bringing protection products into channels where consumers already interact, while ensuring that governance is developed alongside the technology rather than added later.

Arsalaan (Oz) Ahmed, Founder and Director of mmob, said his experience in Islamic finance and regulated fintech had highlighted the complexities involved in family takaful within an open-finance environment. He noted that eligibility checks, customer consent and audit trails need to remain connected to the takaful certificate across different channels, while decisions must also be capable of being explained and evidenced when required.

Through the strategic partnership, Ouch!, mmob and SENNI aim to combine fintech infrastructure, Islamic finance expertise and AI governance to support the development of a digitally enabled family takaful model. The collaboration reflects the growing role of technology in financial services while highlighting the importance of building regulatory and governance considerations into AI-driven financial solutions from the beginning.