Sulaiman said the group wants to transform the banking experience at the refreshed AmBank branch in Damansara Utama, from transactional in nature to a more social wealth enhancing centre. — MARIA IBRAHIM/The Star
PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian economy will slowly pick up soon after the recovery of the world economy, which is expected in the first or second half of next year.
AmBank group chief executive officer Datuk Sulaiman Mohd Tahir said the group is hopeful of the pick-up of the Malaysian economy, which will be driven by local demand.
“As far as Malaysia is concerned, our gross domestic product (GDP) forecast was about 4.5% to 5%, which is still good compared to the global average of between 2% and 3%,” he told StarBiz after the launch of the revamped AmBank Damansara Utama branch.
He stated that as far as inflation goes, the country’s unemployment rate and the way people are spending is at a good pace.
Sulaiman added that with the introduction of the new industrial master plan by the government, more infrastructure projects with a focus on environmental, social and governance, as well as small and medium enterprises, will be supported.
“Hopefully that translates into more activity and we can see stronger GDP growth moving forward,” he said.
Aiming to provide the local community with a welcoming and immersive space to discuss their financial management needs, AmBank has officially launched its AmBank Signature Priority Banking Centres.
Located at its Damansara Utama and Kepong branches, the space enables customers to meet with relationship managers and investment consultants that will help them to build their investment portfolios.
Sulaiman said the group wants to transform the branch’s banking experience from transactional in nature to a more social wealth enhancing centre.
“The creation of the wealth centre is a response to align with the changing preferences of our customers,” he said, explaining that banks need to evolve in order to remain relevant.
Sulaiman expresses his hope that over time, all of AmBank’s branches will go through the phase of change overtime, creating a more comfortable and personalised environment for its customers.
Officiating the launch, AmBank retail banking managing director Aaron Loo said that the branch network continues to play an important part in AmBank’s strategy of building community banking centres that serve local needs.
“As digital banking progresses, fewer people will come to branches because you can do everything online. What we want to do is reinvigorate our branch network, hence creating opportunities and reasons for communities to come to our branch,” he said.
Loo also introduced the collaboration with HWC Coffee, an international specialty coffee chain, as one of the highlights of the redesign as it brings forth the concept of “cafe banking” that redefines the traditional banking experience.
He shared that within three weeks of the reopening of the Damansara Utama branch in June 2023, the group saw more than a 10% increase in footfall to the branch, which led to an optimistic forecast for the new concept growing further in the near term.Meanwhile, two more AmBank Signature Priority Banking Centres will be opening in Kelawai, Penang and Johor, which are expected to start operating in the first quarter of 2024 and fourth quarter of this year, respectively.
AmBank currently operates 167 branches with a network of 1,065 self-serving machines, comprising automated teller machines, cash deposit machines and cheque deposit machines nationwide.
