This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on September 22, 2025 - September 28, 2025

A RM1.2 billion contract to replace the existing identity cards, or MyKad, is likely to generate interest among industry players, sources familiar with the matter tell The Edge.

The replacement aims to include additional and enhanced security features involving iris scans and facial scans, and enables the card’s use in digital transactions. It is understood that the tender for the RM1.2 billion contract — which will replace the existing identity cards that have been in use since 2012 — could be called as early as next month, one industry source tells The Edge.

“Well, the National Registration (Amendment) Bill 2025 was passed in the Dewan Rakyat on Aug 27, so I gather the tender will likely be called soon,” he says.

The National Registration (Amendment) Bill 2025, which will allow the changes to the existing MyKad, was tabled for the first time in the Dewan Rakyat on Aug 19. It was followed by a second reading a week later on Aug 26 and was then passed via a voice vote.

Companies that could be eyeing the contract include HeiTech Padu Bhd (KL:HTPADU), Dagang NeXchange Bhd (KL:DNEX), Theta Edge Bhd (KL:THETA), NexG Bhd (KL:NEXG) (formerly known as Datasonic Group Bhd), Scicom (MSC) Bhd (KL:SCICOM), Infomina Bhd (KL:INFOM), REDtone Digital Bhd (KL:REDTONE), Bestinet Sdn Bhd and Sapura Secured Technologies Sdn Bhd, among others.

A handful of the companies mentioned above confirmed with The Edge that they are aware of the upcoming contract and are indeed interested. Sources familiar with Zetrix AI Bhd (KL:ZETRIX), formerly known as MyEG Services Bhd, said the company is not looking at participating and would sit this contract out.

That said, Zetrix is part of a larger group. Zetrix has a 24.93% stake in Heitech Padu, which may be the vehicle used to bid for the contract. Other notable shareholders of Heitech Padu include Rosetta Partners Sdn Bhd, which is linked to the Sultan of Kelantan, Sultan Muhammad V.

Heitech Padu is also linked to numerous other companies via its shareholders and directors. In April last year, Zetrix entered into a teaming agreement with Heitech Padu to work together and form a collaboration to explore services in relation to the information technology industry in Malaysia.

In April this year, Zetrix signed a memorandum of understanding with Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and Heitech Padu with the intention of working together on cloud and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled smart government services.

 Other than Heitech Padu, Zetrix founder Wong Thean Soon, who has about a 27% stake in the company, controls 31.09% of information technology solution provider Excel Force MSC Bhd (KL:EFORCE).

It is worth noting that in October last year, Heitech Padu won the RM892.2 million National Integrated Immigration System (NIISe) project, which will integrate border management systems under the various agencies of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA).

Heitech Padu is the incumbent operator of the NIISe through the Malaysian Immigration System (MyIMMs), which has been in operation since 1993.

One potential bidder explains the possible reasons why some parties are hesitating and why some may not participate. “Many are not thinking through the complexities. This tender is going to be followed very closely. MyKad, personal banking linkages, remote configuration of subsidies, be it B40, fuel or whatever … It has to be thought through very carefully.  

“Also sovereignty challenges must be overcome and for citizens to be comfortable with digital conversation between state and individuals if MyKad is used for banking verifications ... This is the future, full of technical challenges, this bid is going to be very closely scrutinised and will need a very strong consortium all round.”

An executive at another potential bidder says his company is likely to participate but is not hopeful of bagging the contract. “There is a lot of competition, it’s not going to be easy, many of the likely bidders are well connected.”

REDtone Digital, for example, which is 36.65% controlled by Berjaya Corp Bhd (KL:BJCORP), is the flagship of well-connected businessman Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun.

REDtone Digital’s chairperson is Tunku Tun Aminah Sultan Ibrahim Ismail — the daughter of His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia — who has a 17.34% stake in REDtone. Also worth noting is that REDtone has 17.3% in Theta Edge, which is 27.28% held by the pilgrim fund Lembaga Tabung Haji.

NexG is also a company connected to a number of other listed firms via shareholding and a number of assets have been acquired and sold within this group of companies. Just at the end of August this year, NexG secured a six-year contract worth RM1.73 billion from MoHA to supply passports, starting in June 2026 and continuing until May 2032.

Another potential bidder, Infomina, is largely involved in providing mainframe systems (large, powerful and reliable computers) which handle massive volumes of transactions and data in real time and are used mainly by banks and government agencies in Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Japan, among others. It is also venturing into artificial intelligence and data analytics, specifically for credit risk, fraud detection and cybersecurity, among others.

Earlier this month, Scicom signed a partnership with Telekom Malaysia Bhd (KL:TM) to jointly develop AI-enabled customer engagement solutions and digital service delivery platforms. Scicom was one of the bidders for NIISe last year.

Sapura Secured Technologies has a number of businesses largely revolving around defence and security technology. Its border monitoring and surveillance systems can detect weaknesses or threats to the border.

DNeX was one of three shortlisted companies with Theta Edge and Heitech Padu for the NIISe contract. Earlier this month, DNeX received its sixth time contract extension from the Ministry of Finance to continue operating and maintaining Malaysia’s National Single Window (NSW) for Trade Facilitation System from September 2025 to August 2026, with the possibility of a further one-year renewal, subject to performance review, current needs and mutual agreement.

DNEX first secured the NSW concession in Sept 2009 for a five-year duration and has received multiple extensions since then. NSW involves providing eServices for trade facilitation, electronic customs-related transactions and duty payments and electronic document transfers between members of its trading community.

Meanwhile, Bestinet has been handling the processing of documents of foreign workers from all countries, but mainly of Bangladeshi workers, via its Foreign Workers Centralised Management System, which has 15 modules and aims to cover all aspects of processing the documents of foreign workers.

The company has a six-year contract where it is paid RM215 per foreign worker for processing and issuing the temporary foreign worker permit. Considering an estimated 2.5 million foreign workers enter the country annually, Bestinet gets RM537 million per year or RM3.2 billion over the six-year tenure of its contract. 

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