Kuala Lumpur, 19 August 2020 - Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad (“Alliance Bank” or the “Bank”) is focusing on helping its customers weather the current COVID-19 crisis, preserve jobs, and emerge stronger post-pandemic in the financial year 2021 (“FY21”).
In FY21, the Bank is stepping up efforts to provide its customers with financial and non-financial assistance, manage liquidity risk and cash availability, and accelerate remote banking and its branch transformation.
In terms of financial assistance, the Bank has been providing loan modifications, as well as over RM600 million in BNM Special Assistance Funds to SMEs.
Tan Sri Dato’ Ahmad bin Mohd Don, Chairman of Alliance Bank said, “Our goal now is to extend repayment assistance to our customers post-moratorium. We are proactively reaching out to all our customers. By providing appropriate temporary relief to customers who have been most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, we are also managing the Bank’s credit risk.”
While repayment assistance is available to all its customers, the Bank has targeted packages especially for those in the B40 segment and business clients in sectors severely impacted1 by the pandemic. It advises all customers to plan ahead and discuss their financial situation with them (the Bank) as soon as possible to determine the most suitable relief package for them.
As for non-financial assistance, the #SupportLokal initiative was started by the Bank since March 2020 to help local businesses widen their customer reach by taking their businesses online. Local business owners are provided with free digital marketing and branding to showcase their products and services at #SupportLokal Online Bazaar, which is hosted on the Bank’s corporate website and its social media channel. To date, this initiative has reached over 3 million Malaysians online, and generated more than 50,000 visits to the websites of these SMEs.
Accelerate Digital Banking
The Bank’s latest customer survey indicates that two-thirds of its customers prefer using online channels for account opening, while 60% of them mentioned that they are now less inclined to visit the branch to perform their banking transactions.
As such, Alliance Bank will accelerate its digitisation to make interactions with customers simpler, faster, and more responsive.
Mr. Joel Kornreich, Group Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Bank said, “We have made good progress in our digitisation efforts. We recently launched the Alliance BizSmart® eTrade, Malaysia’s first electronic trade financing solution that enables business owners to submit Bankers’ Acceptance or Trust Receipts electronically via their mobile phones.”
“Our digitisation efforts culminated in the recent recognition as the ‘Best Digital Bank in Malaysia’ by IDC Financial Insights,” said Mr. Kornreich. The award recognises the Bank’s innovative Branch-in-a-Tablet solution that delivers quick and simple digital customer experience. Using the solution, individuals can open their savings account, and activate their debit card and online banking account using a tablet in as little as 15 minutes. For businesses, the Bank has improved business account opening to “1 day, 1 visit”. Today, up to 90% of the Bank’s current and savings accounts for individuals are opened via the Branch-in-a-Tablet solution.
The Bank will soon be launching a digital Know-Your-Customer (eKYC) solution, which allows individuals to open and activate a savings account, or obtain a loan, conveniently and securely anywhere, anytime, without the need to visit a bank branch or be visited by a bank officer.
The Bank also plans to introduce Digital SME Loan, which provides a simple, convenient, fast and paperless solution for businesses to apply for financing online, over the next quarter.
1Refers to tour operators, hotels, and restaurants.
