CIMB Bank has been named the Best Retail Bank in Malaysia in The Asian Banker’s Global Excellence in Retail Financial Services (RFS) Awards 2023 held in Hanoi, Vietnam recently. The award celebrates CIMB’s continued leadership in the consumer bank space, led by its focus on its digital priorities which resulted in delivering superior customer experience resulting in better cost efficiencies and overall business performance.
The 22nd Global Excellence in RFS Awards is a rigorous, prestigious and transparent awards programme that celebrates institutional and individual leadership in retail financial services globally.
Effendy Shahul Hamid, Chief Executive Officer, Group Consumer and Digital Banking of CIMB Group said that the award speaks about the bank’s teams, and their continued focus on placing technology and digital enablement in the middle of meeting the evolving needs of their customers.
“We would like to thank our customers for making us their trusted partner and provider. We will continue to stay the course, innovating responsibly, placing security at the forefront, and through these levers, deliver greater value services to our customers,” he added.
Among the Bank’s achievements highlighted were its focus on CASA acquisition as well as its CIMB OctoSavers Account-i offering with fully digital electronic Know-Your-Customer (“e-KYC”) account opening functionality. The digital proposition has been well-received, as total deposits in the CIMB OctoSavers Account-i grew by 94% year-on-year as at end-2022, demonstrating the convenience of its end-to-end online onboarding process.
In 2022, the Bank also introduced CIMB e-Zi Tunai, the first personal loan product for microfinancing in Malaysia with a fully digital customer journey. CIMB e-Zi Tunai is distributed via GOpinjam, an inclusive digital personal loan proposition available through the Touch ‘n Go eWallet.
Christian Kapfer, Research Director of The Asian Banker said, “We are delighted to announce CIMB as the Best Retail Bank in Malaysia in this year’s awards programme, which recognises exceptional innovation, leadership, management and performance in retail financial services. CIMB’s focus on acquiring current and savings accounts and commitment to digitalisation have led to improved customer satisfaction, cost efficiency, and productivity. The Asian Banker congratulates CIMB for their achievement and their continued commitment to providing outstanding banking services as a leading financial institution in Malaysia.”
CIMB’s continued investment into data and digital capabilities is also a key driver in enabling the Bank to provide customers with value add insights and solutions. For instance, the Bank uses machine learning to analyse transaction behaviour and generate personalised recommendations to customers. These include among others an income tax savings tool, which automatically categorises CIMB Debit or Credit card transactions to help customers maximise tax relief savings. Through the CIMB Clicks App, customers can also receive personalised lifestyle and shopping deal recommendations from merchants within their vicinity.
In this year’s awards programme, The Asian Banker assessed the performance of more than 100 retail financial institutions from across the world. Since 2020, it has also incorporated the customer experience evaluation of The Bank Quality Consumer Survey and Ranking of Retail Banks, that involve 11,000 respondents from 11 markets in Asia.
