At a MoneyMax drive-through outlet in Malaysia, customers can have their valuables assessed, complete authentication checks and receive their funds – all without leaving their vehicles. The entire process can take less than 15 minutes.

The idea grew from an understanding of local needs. Many customers in Malaysia travel by car or motorcycle, while privacy and security matter when carrying valuables or cash. The company thus adapted the familiar drive-through concept to pawnbroking. It is an unconventional solution for a centuries-old form of lending, but one that reflects how MoneyMax has approached the business since 2008.

“We wanted to offer consumers a more modern, approachable alternative. Bringing the best experience and value to our customers has remained our central ethos,” said Mr Lim Chun Seng, group deputy chief operating officer of MoneyMax.

Those early changes marked the start of a broader transformation. MoneyMax has since expanded across Singapore and Malaysia, diversified into new financing segments and built new capabilities to support its growth. Today, it operates more than 140 stores across the two markets.

REDESIGNING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

When MoneyMax opened its first outlet in Yishun in 2008, pawnbroking offered a very different experience. Seeking to modernise what Mr Lim described as a “rather traditional industry”, the company did away with elevated counters and steel bars separating customers from pawnbrokers. In their place came glass panels, brighter interiors and level counters, creating a more open setting.

MoneyMax later applied the same thinking to its integrated retail model in Singapore, where many outlets combine jewellery retail with a discreet pawnbroking counter, giving customers greater privacy. 

The changes went beyond the physical store. Customers once had to make frequent trips to an outlet to pay interest on their pawn loans – an inconvenience for what was often a relatively small payment.

MoneyMax subsequently enabled customers to make payments and manage their loans through its mobile app, although changing established habits took time. “It was only in the post-COVID years that digital payments became our customers’ preferred choice,” said Mr Lim. “Some of our most meaningful initiatives took years to be fully embraced. These may seem like small changes, but over time, that is where you see the compounded effect.”

WHEN ONE MODEL DOES NOT FIT EVERY MARKET

Expanding beyond Singapore brought a different challenge: determining which parts of MoneyMax’s model could travel and which needed to change. After entering Malaysia in 2014, the company found that business dynamics could vary not only between countries, but between locations within the same market.

“Market nuances are important to understand – different groups of people, across different areas and at different times, think differently,” said Mr Lim. “That is something we are mindful of, and it drives our business decisions.”

In Singapore, customers are comfortable with outlets resembling jewellery stores. In parts of Malaysia, however, the same polished aesthetic may not resonate as strongly, Mr Lim said.

MoneyMax therefore adapts its outlets to local expectations. In Melaka, for example, some stores incorporate Peranakan themes to reflect the local area. The drive-through concept grew from the same approach. First tested in Johor, it has since expanded to more than 20 such outlets across Peninsular Malaysia. The model continues to evolve, with new features such as automatic gantries introduced to improve safety and efficiency.

Seeing growth potential in Islamic pawnbroking in Singapore and Malaysia, MoneyMax established an Islamic financing division to diversify its offerings and reach more customers. The company said its initial results in Malaysia have been encouraging, giving it confidence in the segment’s long-term prospects.

Growing across markets has also required MoneyMax to balance local adaptation with consistency. Mr Lim said strong systems, internal processes and training have helped maintain service standards across the network. “It’s good to run the business from a broad-brush management perspective. But the true marginal gains in the long run come from drilling down to these nuances at the individual store level.”

BUILDING BEYOND THE CORE

As MoneyMax grew, management invested in capabilities not typically associated with a pawnshop. Its corporate operations now span in-house treasury, corporate finance and technology teams.

This was not expansion for its own sake, said Mr Lim. “We cannot allow ourselves to be pigeonholed as a pawnshop. Believing that we can grow into something more gives us the conviction to invest the resources, time and effort needed to build new capabilities.”

When the group explored automotive financing around the time Mr Lim joined the family business in 2017, he and his sister studied the market and whether there was sufficient demand before establishing the business the following year.

Today, its three principal lending portfolios – pawnbroking, automotive and real-estate financing – are secured predominantly against gold, vehicles and residential property respectively. “Nobody knows how a particular asset class will perform over a sustained period, so we manage that by diversifying our business,” said Mr Lim.

Pawnbroking nevertheless remains MoneyMax’s core business and a key focus for growth. As a lending business, that growth depends partly on its ability to access capital. Over the past few years, it has diversified its funding beyond bank borrowing into digital commercial paper through investment platform ADDX and the public bond market.

In 2026, it transferred to SGX Mainboard and completed a fully subscribed S$44.3 million placement of 53 million new shares, with participating institutional investors including Fullerton Fund Management, Lion Global Investors and Eastspring Investments (Singapore).

Reaching a broader investor base has also meant demystifying the business. Around two years ago, MoneyMax engaged an investor-relations adviser and began meeting more regularly with investors and research analysts to help them understand how the business operates, manages risk and structures its balance sheet.

For Mr Lim, building a stronger business and ensuring the market understands it go hand in hand. “Growth comes from spotting the right opportunities and having the discipline to execute on them,” he said. “But creating value and making that value understood are two different things. Management has to engage investors – not just to explain where the business is today, but where it is going.”