11 December 2023
The award recognises CIMB Islamic’s excellence in wealth management, innovative digitalisation efforts, enhanced customer journey and commitment to sustainability in its Shariah retail offerings
Kuala Lumpur: CIMB Islamic Bank Berhad (“CIMB Islamic” or “the Bank”) has been named the Islamic Retail Bank of the Year at The Banker’s Islamic Bank of the Year 2023 awards. This accolade recognises CIMB Group’s Islamic retail banking franchise for its excellence in bringing products and services to market, while prioritising customer convenience and experience.
Ahmad Shahriman Mohd Shariff, Chief Executive Officer, CIMB Islamic said, “We are truly honoured to be recognised as the Islamic Retail Bank of the Year by The Banker which is a testament to the team’s commitment in creating innovative Shariah-compliant solutions, in tandem with the growing market demand. We would like to thank our customers for choosing us as their trusted partner and provider of choice. We will continue to serve our customers and deliver value adding and competitive products and services, aligned to the Group’s Forward23+ strategic plan."
Notable products and services that contributed to the recognition were CIMB Islamic’s takaful offerings for legacy planning, which offer a wide range of family takaful products embedded with the concept of Hibah, providing certainty to the beneficiaries. In addition to that, its comprehensive Shariah-compliant wealth management solutions also allow customers access to a wide range of markets and payout structures, as well as exposure to asset classes that are not easily accessible by retail investors.
The Bank’s commitment to sustainability, which was a strong contributing factor to the award, continues to be a long-term priority through products and partnerships that promote the preservation of the environment. At the same time, CIMB Islamic prioritises sustainability-focused initiatives to complement various customer offerings, in pursuit of creating sustainable value at all levels of the economic value chain, in line with the principles of value-based intermediation.
In 2008, CIMB Islamic introduced its EcoSave Savings Account-i (EcoSave-i), which remains to be the only sustainability-linked account in the market. It is the Bank’s first environmentally-focused savings account, where the bank contributes 0.2% of the total EcoSave-i average portfolio balance per annum to environmental projects. Since its launch, CIMB Islamic has contributed approximately than RM5.5 million towards 17 green initiatives across the nation (as at December 2023).
In addition, the Bank was also acknowledged for its digital innovation and mobile convenience in enhancing the customer journey through its next generation mobile banking app with new personalisation features, as well as its auto financing app that allows quick and efficient approvals. The Bank’s Auto Dealer App, the first auto financing platform of its kind in Malaysia, simplifies customers’ car purchasing journey and decision-making, while expediting auto financing submission process for car dealers. The app enables automotive loan/financing approval within one minute upon full submission of required documents.
The Banker’s Islamic Banking Awards recognise institutions with innovative retail products and services, impactful deals, and meaningful sustainability initiatives that have Shariah-compliant finance structures at their core. This year, the awards have taken a more granular approach, in an effort to celebrate innovation across individual Shariah-compliant banking activities, while also recognising the best Islamic banks on a regional and global level.
