CIMB targets Singapore’s retail banking market

Retail banking would broaden CIMB's customer segment coverage with the bank's new operations in Singapore.

Datuk Seri Nazir Razak, Group Chief Executive, CIMB Group said that the Singapore retail banking component will complement its already strong securities, advisory and corporate lending businesses in Singapore and complete the Group’s customer segment coverage across its four key countries, as stated in a report in The Malaysian Insider.

"We have been in Singapore since 1947 through Ban Hin Lee Bank and this presence intensified in 2005 when we acquired GK Goh Stockbrokers. Partly in response to demand from our Malaysian, Indonesian and Thai clients who frequent Singapore, we have been contemplating this push into retail banking for some time now but had to design a business model that turns our banking licence’s 2 branch limitation into an advantage," said Nazir.

"Customers are going to be surprised by our relative value proposition because we build-in our lower cost base into our product and service offerings. In addition CIMB offers superior convenience and perks for those with regional lifestyles," he added.

Meanwhile, Mak Lye Mun, Chief Executive, CIMB Bank Singapore explained that CIMB’s retail strategy was born out of a conviction that they could deliver value added offerings to its customer.