THE role of a modern bank is evolving, moving away from rigid procedures toward a more flexible, human-centric approach.
This shift was tested when a customer, facing a medical emergency, arrived at an RHB branch by ambulance. Rather than proceeding with business as usual, the team found a more dignified solution.
They proactively met the customer at the hospital, reduced documentation and activated secure digital and proxy access to complete transactions without further strain.
This experience highlighted a significant perception gap, where many customers simply do not realise the lengths to which their bank is willing to go for them.
Behind the counters and glass partitions are staff who personally intervene in emergencies with a willingness to help.
This reflects a broader cultural shift in how RHB approaches customer service – balancing operational efficiency with empathy, flexibility and human understanding, while recognising that consistency of delivery requires ongoing focus.
This cultural evolution is codified in PROGRESS27, the bank’s three-year corporate strategy (2025–2027), which focuses on service excellence, high profitability and responsible, purposeful growth.
While many institutions are content with digital efficiency, RHB Banking Group managing director and group chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Rashid Mohamad has set a higher bar – for RHB to become Malaysia’s leading bank for customer service by 2027 through significant and sustained improvement.
From transactions to relationships
As customer expectations continue to evolve alongside digital banking, RHB recognised the need to rethink what service excellence should look like in a modern financial institution.
Under PROGRESS27, the bank began a broader transformation journey to strengthen customer trust, consistency and service culture across the organisation.
Known as the RHB Way, the culture was co-created by RHBians for RHBians to ensure change was driven from the inside out. The RHB Way is built upon four distinct behavioural pillars that act as the compass for every employee.
It encourages staff to take personal accountability through the “I own it and get it right” mindset, while simplifying the customer journey by pledging to “make it easy for others”.
Communication is anchored in empathy – to “listen to understand and communicate clearly”, while the bank remains future-proof by ensuring its people “stay curious and adapt fast” to the changing financial landscape.
Over the years, this cultural shift has translated into stronger customer advocacy and significant improvements in service perception across the organisation.
This progress has also been reflected in the bank’s Net Promoter Score (NPS), an internationally recognised measure of customer advocacy, where RHB improved significantly from its earlier standing to become one of the stronger performers within the industry.
At the same time, the group recognises that more improvements are required to close this gap even further.
For Mohd Rashid, this progress reflects the bank’s brand purpose of “Making Progress Happen for Everyone”.
“By embedding these habits into the organisation’s DNA, RHB ensures ‘Together We Progress’. Our objective for PROGRESS27 is always to be the Best Service Bank.
“We are moving away from being a traditional product-led bank and evolving into a purposeful, needs-led financial solutions provider,” he says.
A customer-first mindset
RHB’s approach to service excellence draws inspiration from customer-centric industries such as hospitality, aviation and premium retail, where customer experience is shaped as much by emotional connection and attentiveness as operational delivery.
As banking products become increasingly commoditised, customer experience is emerging as one of the industry’s key differentiators. While technical aptitude remains a baseline, RHB now prioritises passion and emotional intelligence.
The bank utilises scenario-based interviews to vet potential staff, testing candidates not only on technical capability, but also on their instinctive response to customers facing stressful or emotional situations.
To support this human-centric approach, the bank has equipped its frontline with RHB Ask, a generative AI tool accessible through employees’ mobile devices and workstations.
By reducing the need for staff to manually search for technical information, the tool enables frontline teams to remain more present and focused during customer interactions.
Every RHB branch consistently maintains strong customer ratings on Google Reviews, while recognising that customer feedback continues to highlight areas needing improvement.
To ensure the bank continues evolving in line with customer expectations, RHB has also implemented a robust experience management platform to capture real-time feedback.
In 2025 alone, the bank received over 2.9 million customer responses, using those insights to continuously refine the banking experience.
Transparency and agility
Parallel to this human touch is a move toward a straight-through processing model. By 2027, core products like mortgages and auto finance will be almost entirely digital and near-instant.
Even for those who prefer the physical branch, RHB has introduced a dual-screen transparency model.
Customers now view the same interface as the teller, allowing for real-time verification as they provide their NRIC.
This approach has reduced account opening times to just over nine minutes, placing RHB among the industry’s competitive performers for operational efficiency.
Service excellence also extends to product innovation and design, ensuring banking tools actively improve customers’ financial flexibility and convenience.
A prime example is the RHB Multi Currency Account (MCA), which enables customers to manage 34 currencies seamlessly within a single account – offering convenience, control and confidence for both local and international transactions.
Service with security
In 2026, excellence is equally measured by protection. With the rise of sophisticated scams, RHB has advanced its efforts in the cybersecurity space.
Its recently launched Digital Trust Programme featured RHB Cyber-Secure, Malaysia’s first bank-led cybersecurity self-assessment tool that helps small and medium enterprises (SMEs) better understand their cyber and fraud risk exposure.
The bank has also set up a new Financial Crime Compliance Unit, enhancing detection and prevention through advanced analytics and AI-driven capabilities.
However, technology is only half the battle. The most critical line of defence remains the human one.
RHB staff are rigorously trained to spot the subtle red flags linked to financial coercion and suspicious activities. This vigilance is reinforced by a strong service culture behind it.
Today, every strategic business and functional head carries a Customer Service KPI, reflecting the group’s belief that customer experience is a shared responsibility across all functions.
While back-office departments such as IT may not interact directly with customers, the guiding principle remains simple: if an employee is not serving a customer directly, they are supporting someone who is.
To reinforce this culture internally, the RHB Way Anytime Feedback platform allows every RHBian to provide service ratings and feedback after each service interaction.
This accountability is reinforced by the bank’s Service Recognition programme, which rewards service excellence in real time and annually.
Mohd Rashid emphasises that this cultural shift is not optional.
He says: “This strategy fundamentally transformed how we operate.
“By embedding clearer priorities and fostering stronger accountability across every level of the group, we ensure we remain agile in a rapidly evolving financial landscape.”
The road ahead
As RHB continues strengthening its customer experience capabilities, the focus remains firmly on balancing digital
innovation with human connection, while executing the work needed to achieve its ambition of leading in customer service, particularly in reaching the number one NPS position.
By benchmarking itself continuously against Bank Negara Malaysia standards and evolving customer expectations, the bank aims to ensure its service culture remains relevant in a rapidly changing banking landscape.
“The bank is accelerating its investment in innovation and operational excellence to deliver faster, more convenient and simply more enjoyable customer experiences,” says Mohd Rashid.
In an increasingly digital banking environment, RHB believes technology should not replace the human element of banking but strengthen it.
Because while technology may improve efficiency, trust, empathy and human understanding remain central to building lasting customer relationships.
