Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad’s (“Alliance Bank” or the “Bank”) continuous development of banking and non-banking solutions to help SMEs grow and enhance their business resilience has led to its recognition as the “Best SME Bank in Malaysia” by The Asian Banker’s Global Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards 2024 and The Digital Banker’s Global SME Banking Innovation Awards 2024.

The Bank’s SME and Commercial Banking segments charted significant loans growth with SME loans growing by 16.4%, and Commercial Banking loans increasing by 14.2% year-on-year as at the end of 2023. The figures outpaced the industry growth rates, reflecting the Bank's strong support for businesses via the Bank’s full-suite of innovative, relevant and inclusive solutions including Digital SME and Alliance BizSmart®. The Bank continues to increase its SME loan market share from 3.4% to over 5% with its SME and Commercial banking segment contributing almost 40% to its overall business.

In the past year, the Bank launched several initiatives including RM2 billion in new guarantee schemes with Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Berhad (“CGC”) and Syarikat Jaminan Pembiayaan Perniagaan Berhad (“SJPP”) to enable eligible MSMEs, especially those that lack collateral, to obtain financing, a new supply chain financing programme, new digital capabilities including eKYC for business customers as well as enhanced various internal processes such as introducing the bank statement analyser which helps refine and enhance the Bank’s credit approach to make banking faster and more personalised while broadening financial access for more MSMEs.

Getting SMEs to adopt ESG has also been a central focus of the Bank, aligning with its sustainability purpose. Various initiatives to enable their ESG transition were launched including a Malaysian-market SME ESG survey report, preferential financing, incentive programmes as well as the launch of the Progress Climate Assessment Tool, co-developed with partner UN Global Compact Malaysia & Brunei, to help SMEs assess their sustainability status and generate a Climate Action plan for their businesses. The Bank has successfully achieved a cumulative RM12.3 billion in new sustainable banking business as well, moving it closer towards its RM15 billion FY2027 goal.

“We believe that we can play a bigger role in our customers’ journey, beyond just a transactional experience. It is our brand purpose, to be “The Bank for Life” for our customers by becoming a true partner to them. As a Bank with a long-standing relationship with the SME sector, we understand that they encounter distinctive challenges at various stages of their growth journey. Thus our efforts are focused on innovating and providing personalised, fast and convenient solutions to support our customers towards achieving their business goals throughout their life cycle. These awards underscore our dedication to fostering SMEs’ growth, and our commitment to delivering outstanding services tailored to our customers’ evolving needs as we journey alongside them,” said Kellee Kam, Alliance Bank’s Group Chief Executive Officer.

The Bank’s Group Chief SME, Commercial and Transaction Banking Officer Raymond Chui said, ”Our momentum in the SME segment is driven by our commitment to provide differentiated solutions alongside superior customer service to help our customers in their business roadmap whether it be unique propositions, delivered digitally to MSMEs all the way to personalised solutions to help larger, commercial businesses compete on a larger scale. We are honoured to receive these recognitions which serves as further encouragement to retain, broaden and deepen our relationships with our customers to better understand their needs, and at the same time enabling us to enhance our propositions as we grow alongside them.”

He added that for the year ahead, the team will continue to focus on increasing productivity of its sales team, developing new channels for lead generation and enhancing its digital propositions to continue its momentum in the SME segment.

Alliance Bank also made history by being the only Malaysian bank shortlisted for the Qorus SME Banking Awards 2024, eventually taking the Gold for its SME ESG solution namely the Sustainability Impact Programme (“SIP”). SIP, which is anchored on the bank’s unique 3As approach (Advocacy, Advice and Answers) provides a holistic proposition that supports and enables SMEs on their ESG journey. The program is augmented via strategic partnerships with Bursa Malaysia, Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation and the UN Global Compact Network Malaysia & Brunei to provide SMEs with capacity building, practical ESG diagnostic assessments and roadmaps whilst facilitating their transition to sustainable business practices via our green financing solutions. 

The Bank’s impactful transformative growth strategy, Acceler8, also picked up the Gold award for “Best PR Campaign: Banking/Financial Services” at the recent PR Awards 2024 which covers the Southeast Asia, South Asia and Oceania regions while its Group Communications, Editorial and Intranet team was recognised with the Bronze award for the “PR Team of the Year for a Brand” at the same awards programme.

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