The Asian Banker not only crowned CIMB as Malaysia’s Best Digital Bank 2018, and Best Retail Bank for the third consecutive year; but also named Samir Gupta, CIMB Group’s Consumer Banking CEO, as Retail Banker of the Year in Asia Pacific 2019, which recognises the exceptional achievements of a best-in-class leader in the region’s retail banking industry. CIMB has also been ranked one of the top 10 banks in Asia Pacific in Asian Banker’s league table, from seventeenth place previously.

Commenting on the wins, Tengku Dato’ Sri Zafrul Aziz, Group CEO, CIMB Group, said, “Our thriving Consumer banking franchise in ASEAN today is the result of our strong initiative to develop CIMB as a universal bank, and these awards prove how far we have pushed our own boundaries” The Bank’s digital push was ramped up in 2018 with its adoption of the first big data platform in Malaysia, where it deployed open source software supported by a data science centre of intelligence, to enable better insights and smart, timely, contextual response to customers’ needs.

Both Asian Banker and IDC have employed rigorous criteria in evaluating potential winners for their awards. The Asian Banker, took into account not just the Bank’s operating profit growth over several years, but also metrics like productivity, cost-efficiency, effective use of data analytics for best-in-class CX, and risk management. CIMB serves over 14 million customers across the region and operates in Singapore, Cambodia and Thailand.