Alliance Bank explores tie-up with Sedania to launch energy-saving programme for SMEs

From left: Raymond Chui Keng Leng, group chief SME and commercial banking officer of Alliance Bank; Rizal IL-Ehzan Fadil Azim, CEO of Alliance Islamic Bank; and Daniel Ruppert, CEO of Sedania Innovator at the MoU signing

KUALA LUMPUR: Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sedania Innovator Bhd's sustainable energy arm Sedania Technologies Sdn Bhd to launch a fully funded programme to help small and medium enterprises (SME) become energy sustainable organisations.

In a statement, the bank said Sedania would bear the cost of initial outlays and provide advice to eligible Alliance Bank and Alliance Islamic Bank SME customers on office or building upgrades, which includes energy efficient smart air-conditioning, smart controllers and lighting solutions.

According to the Sedania Sustainable Energy for SMEs Plan 2023, these initiatives are expected to help bring down energy consumption of eligible businesses by 25% to 40%.

As part of the programme, only a portion of the cost savings will be paid to Sedania over a five-year period.

During this time, Sedania will also provide free maintenance and repair services as well as complimentary energy monitoring systems which will enable SME clients to monitor its energy consumption and provide the necessary data for its sustainability reporting.

Additionally, through the Energy Performance Contract (EPC), Alliance Bank and Alliance Islamic Bank SME customers will also receive a certified report card on its energy efficiency level without any payment.

Alliance Bank group chief SME and commercial banking officer Raymond Chui Keng Leng said the initiative is in line with the bank's four-year Acceler8 2027 strategy plan.

“By partnering with Sedania, we can take the lead within the banking industry as an ESG enabler, allowing us to better serve our SME customers by providing fast, convenient and personalised solutions that meet their growing financing and ESG-compliance needs,” he said.

According to Sedania Innovator CEO Daniel Ruppert, SMEs contribute to about 70% of all carbon emissions, but are the most reluctant to adopt ESG practices due to cost.

"As an ESG enabler driven to reduce the carbon footprint, this required us to innovate a new programme which makes it easy for companies to say ‘yes’.

"In this programme, the SME gets cost reductions and new office equipment with costs borne by Sedania, the bank has a new value-added service offer which goes beyond conventional banking services, and the environment has less carbon emissions," he added.