KUALA LUMPUR: Hong Leong Bank Bhd (HLB) is spending between 60% and 65% from RM150 million to RM200 million capital expenditure set aside for the new financial year 2021 (FY2021) for its local and overseas digital expansion.
Group managing director and CEO Domenic Fuda said the investment will include digital expansion in Malaysia, Cambodia and Singapore.
“There are plans to launch enhance capabilities this year. We will do something in Cambodia and we have plans to do in this FY in Singapore,“ he told reporters at a media briefing on HLB Digital Day 2020.
He said in FY2020, the bank spent roughly the similar amount allocates for FY2021.
Previously, HLB is using third-party services to support its digital initiatives and now focusing on its own technology capabilities, he said, adding that all the bank mobile apps for consumers were built in-house.
Fuda said HLB is seeing a big leap in cashless adoption during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period.
“That showed how fast the bank’s customers adjusted to this new normal,“ he noted.
HLB alone saw a 13-fold increase in the total amount value of e-wallet top-ups over the period of March-May 2020 versus the same period a year ago.
HLB also recorded a significant year-on-year increase in downloads and usage of its digital banking platforms in May 2020 vis-a-vis May 2019.
As for May 2020, almost 80% of its customers were using its mobile banking app – HLB Connect.
Customers aged above 50 years recorded the biggest year-on-year jump at 42%, while mobile banking spiked across the board with an 80% jump in total transaction volume and a 75% rise in the number of transactions conducted.
“In fact, a study done before the pandemic showed that 69% of Malaysian were planning to use cashless payment methods more often, The pandemic would only have hastened the digital shift and cashless adaption,“ Fuda said. – Bernama
