KUALA LUMPUR: Shares in Green Packet Bhd (GPacket) jumped over 12% in early trade Wednesday following its plan to apply for an Islamic digital banking licence.

       The counter added 12.24%, or three sen to 27.5 sen. It is one of the most actively traded counters on Bursa Malaysia with over 8.3 million shares traded.

       GPacket-WB rose 14.29%, or one sen to eight sen with 2.3 shares exchanged hands.

       GPacket, ZICO Holdings Inc (ZHI) and M24 Tawreeq Sdn Bhd have teamed up via a consortium to jointly submit an application for an Islamic digital banking licence to provide syariah-compliant digital micro services for the underserved segment.

       The consortium said its application is focused on forming an Islamic digital bank, which would include several other collaborators that would further complement its products and value-added services to strengthen the client servicing capabilities and expand its customer base.

       It added that the decision to apply for an Islamic digital banking licence was founded on the desire to elevate the livelihoods of the unserved and underserved Malaysians, as espoused in the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030.