The awards lauded CIMB as the Best Retail Bank and Best SME Bank in Malaysia, reflecting the Bank’s strong market leadership across both consumer and SME banking segments.
The Asian Banker attributed CIMB’s recognition as Best Retail Bank in Malaysia to its strong track record of advancing the industry, including strengthening digital origination, fast decisioning, and embedded finance partnerships. The Bank’s innovative expansion of customer acquisition beyond branches, along with high automation in areas such as lending approvals, highlighted its continued focus on operational excellence. These efforts in strengthening customer experience while maintaining sound risk management contributed to strong financial performance for the consumer bank and the country.
“We share this strong market recognition with our customers. Our efforts to advance customers and society are supported by the relentless pursuit of innovation and commitment to a future-forward digital framework, scalable technology and a customer-first approach. These accolades underscore our market leadership and dedication to delivering excellence across the retail and SME banking sectors in a continuously evolving financial landscape,” said Gurdip Singh Sidhu, Chief Executive Officer of CIMB Malaysia and CIMB Bank Berhad
“This recognition reflects the trust our customers place in us. We have been intentional in shaping a proposition-led approach that puts our customers at the centre of everything we do — from innovating new solutions, to creating seamless, omni-channel journeys and building a strong ecosystem of partners that extends the value we deliver. Alongside this, we continue to invest in next-generation technologies and AI to simplify processes and enhance how we serve. At the heart of it all is our commitment to delivering a better experience and making banking simpler, better and faster for our customers,” added Haniz Nazlan, Chief Executive Officer, Group Consumer Banking, CIMB.
In naming CIMB as Best SME Bank in Malaysia, The Asian Banker pointed to the Bank’s leadership in serving SMEs through an integrated approach that combines digital innovation and comprehensive product offerings. This approach has driven strong growth and expanded CIMB’s market presence, while also highlighting the impact of its accessible and technology-enabled solutions.
“Being named Best SME Bank in Malaysia affirms CIMB’s continued transformation in parallel with our SME customers, boosting their progress up the value chain through a wide menu of empowering solutions and industry knowledge to contribute to Malaysia’s regional growth story. The successful launch in 2025 of our OCTO BIZ solution with ASEAN connectivity widened our comprehensive SME toolkit, including innovations such as SME Instant Apply, SME FlexiCash/-i with working capital adapted to daily cash flow, and instant AI intelligence for Business Contact Centre agents to better empower customers. Our flagship CIMB BizReady, GreenBizReady and Halal Biz Ready platforms jointly present a universal offering that helps businesses achieve their aspirations, while reflecting CIMB’s purpose of advancing customers and society,” said Lawrence Loh, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Group Commercial and Transaction Banking
The dual recognition reinforces CIMB’s commitment to advancing customers and society through innovation, digitalisation and a customer-first approach, while continuing to support SMEs as a key driver of Malaysia’s economic growth.
