CIMB Bank Berhad and CIMB Islamic Bank Berhad have targeted at least RM12 billion for the B40’s access to facilities such as home, auto, ASB and personal financing for the period 2019 - 2020.

The B40 segment has made up a significant percentage of CIMB Bank and CIMB Islamic’s retail customers since 2016.

A prime example of CIMB Bank and CIMB Islamic’s commitment to assist the B40 segment is through their lowest-in-market financing rate of 2.9 per cent p.a., under Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Fund for Affordable Homes, a RM1billion-fund to help the B40’s purchase their first residential property.

“In line with CIMB’s next mid-term growth plan, Forward23, CIMB has sharpened its focus on financial inclusivity to fulfill the Group's vision of advancing customers and society.

“A nation’s prosperity is only meaningful when every single one of its people is enabled to prosper.

“Being particularly mindful of the B40 segment, CIMB has taken extra steps to ensure that our lending policies are financially inclusive,” said CIMB Group chief executive officer, Tengku Datuk Sri Zafrul Aziz.

“To that end, through CIMB Bank and CIMB Islamic, we have targeted to disburse RM12 billion to the B40 segment as home, auto, ASB or personal financing for the period 2019 – 2020, and we will not stop there.

“We will continue to find ways to assist the B40 segment, whether through our business operations, or corporate responsibility initiatives,” he added.

Many of CIMB’s CSR initiatives are also targeted at empowering the B40's to help them improve economically.

A case in point is the Taylor’s-CIMB Islamic entrepreneurial programme which has trained, mentored and provided grants totaling RM500,000 to over 100 small business owners from Kuala Lumpur’s Projek Perumahan Rakyat.

For 2019, a further RM2 million has been allocated for the programme to empower more small business owners from the B40 segment.

Additionally, CIMB Foundation’s comprehensive, tertiary-level financial literacy programme called Be$MART also prioritises students from B40 families.

Since its inception in 2016, CIMB Group has expended RM4 million on the Be$MART programme, benefitting over 10,000 students nationwide by making them more financially literate.

CIMB Group has also committed 1 per cent of its PBT in the period 2018 - 2020 to fund its corporate responsibility initiatives in ASEAN.

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