This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on October 12, 2026 - October 18, 2026

ACE Market-listed Ramssol Group Bhd (KL:RAMSSOL) sees a business opportunity in allowing employees to draw part of their salaries before payday in exchange for a small fee multiplied across a sizeable workforce.

The human resources (HR) management solutions company charges RM5 each time an employee withdraws from the earned wage access (EWA) facility known as Pay Day Now, its new platform developed in collaboration with Ambank Group. Ramssol group managing director and CEO Datuk Cllement Tan Chee Seng believes the platform could eventually become a significant source of recurring income for the company.

“This is more of a volume [game] and I need to get more clients to come on board. My target with Ambank is for RM2 billion to be dispersed per month,” Tan tells The Edge in an interview, stressing that the business needs a much larger user base for it to make a meaningful contribution.

Getting enough employers and employees onto the platform, however, will take time. As such, investors should not expect an immediate lift in earnings from Pay Day Now, which was launched in July, he adds.

In Malaysia, EWA platforms are not something new. Apart from Ramssol, one of the better known EWA service providers in the market is Paywatch, a fintech firm founded in 2020 by brothers Richard and Alex Kim. The duo managed to secure a direct operational partnership with some financial institutions, including Hong Leong Bank Bhd (KL:HLBANK).

The other EWA platforms are Kanz PaydayNow owned by Xanderia Services Sdn Bhd and HariWang operated by Peopleperks International Sdn Bhd.

Back to Ramssol’s Pay Day Now, the platform is operated by its indirect unit Rams Fintech Sdn Bhd. The platform allows employees of any participating firm to access up to 25% of their wages already earned, ahead of their usual payday.

Tan illustrates that an employee earning RM4,000 a month would earn RM1,000 over a week and be eligible to withdraw RM250. Netting off the transaction fee, the employee would receive RM245. The fee is fixed rather than linked to the withdrawal amount and any repeated withdrawal would incur repeated charges.

Tan says employers are given 15 days after month-end to settle the advance, while Ambank provides the funding to support the disbursements. Ramssol aims to onboard convenience-store chains and major retailers onto Pay Day Now because their large workforce offers a faster route to scaling up.

“The response so far has been very good as there are a lot of customers or employees who withdraw. If the employer is onboarded already, then there are no more challenges. But the first step of getting an employer on board is the toughest one,” says Tan.

Apart from the need for participating employers and employees to have Ambank accounts, their HR teams must also supply sufficient employee information and the documents required for screening. This poses a challenge for clients with thousands of staff nationwide, as coordinating the opening of bank accounts would require substantial effort.

Ramssol has brought in CTOS Data System Sdn Bhd, a unit of CTOS Digital Bhd (KL:CTOS), to help widen its reach. Under an agreement effective July 28, CTOS would introduce and promote Pay Day Now to employers within its network, while Ramssol would handle onboarding and operate the platform.

CTOS, simply acting as a reseller and a screener, earns a commission of RM1 per withdrawal. So that leaves Ramssol with the remaining RM4 of the RM5 transaction fee. At the time of writing, the number of onboarded employers stood at 560, covering about 190,040 employees, according to Ramssol.

Since its July 2021 listing, Ramssol has spent over RM21.7 million to acquire majority stakes in companies that are mainly involved in digital marketing, software development and recruitment services.

Of the RM21.7 million, RM17.7 million or 82% was satisfied through the issuance of new Ramssol shares. The remaining RM4 million was satisfied through the group’s internally generated funds.

These acquisitions include a 51% stake in Thailand-based Geekstart for RM6.9 million in 2024 and a 51% stake in Infinite Loop Media for RM400,000 in 2023. Geekstart is involved in software development services, while Infinite Loop Media is in digital marketing services. Tan had told The Edge in an earlier interview that Ramssol planned to expand into staffing, recruitment and fintech in an effort to increase the contribution from recurring revenue as it diversifies away from a dependence on one-time project-based services.

Its latest purchase was in July when Rams Fintech acquired a 60% stake in INNIO Holding Sdn Bhd, in addition to a 49% stake in Agensi Pekerjaan INNIO Sdn Bhd, for a combined RM14.4 million, satisfied through RM3.6 million in cash and RM10.8 million in new Ramssol shares.

INNIO Holding is the parent of INNIO Group Sdn Bhd and CariJob Holding Sdn Bhd. Together with Agensi Pekerjaan INNIO, the acquired businesses provide talent sourcing, recruitment and manpower outsourcing services.

Tan says these new entities will complement Ramssol’s existing business by allowing it to help existing clients recruit workers and manage payroll, alongside supplying the systems used to administer their workforce. CariJob also gives the group access to more small and medium enterprise (SME) employers. The move ultimately broadens Ramssol’s customer base that is traditionally dominated by large corporations and multinational companies.

The acquisitions therefore create opportunities to sell services in both directions, Tan opines. Ramssol can offer recruitment and manpower outsourcing to its existing corporate clients, while introducing Pay Day Now to employers served by the acquired businesses.

On Sept 1, Ramssol was among the 10 listed companies that announced the resignation of TGS TW PLT as their external auditor, citing “broader audit portfolio and resource management considerations”.

According to Tan, the mass resignation was driven by the structural and regulatory bottleneck faced by TGS TW as some of its partners and seniors had left the audit firm.

Later, on Sept 11, Ramssol announced the appointment of Kudos SBC PLT as its new external auditor for FY2026, to take effect after the expiry of TGS TW’s notice period.

Separately, Ramssol’s 10% shareholding in ELMU Education Group also drew attention amid court proceedings involving individuals linked to the education group and UBB Amanah. In August, ELMU chief financial officer Noraini Aripin was charged with criminal breach of trust involving RM6.56 million. She pleaded not guilty.

Ramssol first announced its venture in ELMU back in September 2023 through a RM1.5 million investment. Tan says the rationale behind the investment was to complement its education technology (EduTech) business and the sale of compliance-training content. The investment had been written down by end-2025, but Ramssol still held the shares at the time of the interview.

Tan explains that Ramssol has no board representation nor any role in ELMU’s daily operations.

Ramssol operates in what it describes as market segments — AITech (artificial intelligence technology); PeopleTech (consulting and system); MarTech (marketing technology); EduTech and AutoTech (technology services for the automotive industry).

AITech is now the group’s largest revenue contributor and Tan expects it to become increasingly important as demand grows for AI applications and cloud services. The newly launched Pay Day Now platform will be parked under Fintech, which in turn is under the PeopleTech segment — the second largest revenue contributor.

For the second quarter ended June 30, 2026 (2QFY2026), Ramssol’s net profit rose 29.9% year on year to RM7.43 million from RM5.72 million while revenue increased 9.4% to RM27.28 million from RM24.93 million.

For its latest full financial year ended Dec 31, 2025 (FY2025), Ramssol saw its profit after tax rise 30.1% to RM17.7 million while revenue rose 20.4% to RM75.6 million. The performance was attributed to continued strong sales of the group’s human capital management and student management services, alongside increased contributions from digital transformation consulting, business process mapping, and the implementation of digitalisation initiatives incorporating robotic process automation.

Apex Securities and Maybank Investment Bank, the only two brokerages covering Ramssol, have on average projected the company to register net profit of RM29.6 million and RM39.1 million on revenue of RM115 million and RM156 million in FY2026 and FY2027 respectively, according to Bloomberg data.

Both Apex Securities and Maybank IB remain bullish on Ramssol with a “buy” recommendation, resulting in a consensus 12-month target price of RM1.45.

Year to date, Ramssol’s share price has plunged over 21%, closing at 79 sen last Thursday and valuing the group at RM350.7 million.

Tan believes that Ramssol is not being appreciated by the market. Trading at a historical price-earnings ratio of around 14 to 15 times, the group’s growth prospects warrant a higher multiple, he argues. He also retains his long-term ambition for Ramssol to reach RM1 billion in market capitalisation one day.

Tan remains the largest shareholder of Ramssol with direct and indirect stakes of 23%, followed by Urusharta Jamaah Sdn Bhd with 7.61%.

According to Tan, Ramssol is planning for a transfer from Bursa Malaysia’s ACE Market to the Main Market next year. For now, the immediate focus will be on developing its Pay Day Now platform to generate a meaningful earnings stream over the near term. 

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