KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 — Alliance Bank Bhd will further strengthen its digital product offerings in the financial year ending March 31, 2020 (FY20) through the allocation of RM50 million in capital expenditure (capex).

Group chief executive officer Joel Kornreich said the capex allocation and digital products to be rolled out by the bank would be the catalyst in enticing the small and medium enterprise (SME).

“We are upbeat about our SME segment, and in fact, we recorded an 11 per cent loan growth in that segment in 2018 when the overall market contracted,” he told a press conference in conjunction with the company’s annual general meeting here today.

Kornreich also said that he was sanguine about the bank’s position in the SME segment and would continue to accelerate efforts to grow that segment.

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The bank has continuously enhanced its sales capacities, scale up digital efforts by introducing Alliance Origination System, which shortens credit process, and contribute to the 39 per cent growth in SME loan disbursements.

The bank has also embarked on digitalisation of individual current account and savings account openings as well as launched its mobile banking application, which saw over 52,000 sign-ups.

Meanwhile, commenting on virtual banking, Kornreich said Alliance Bank was exploring the idea and talking to a few potential partners regarding the matter.

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However, he stressed that the idea of a virtual bank is not on the cards yet.

“Yes, we are currently talking about virtual banking, but not that we are applying for a virtual banking licence,” he said.

Bank Negara Malaysia had previously said it would come out with the virtual bank licensing requirements by the end of the year.   

Commenting on a report that the bank is looking to pare down its stake in Alliance Investment Bank Bhd, Kornreich said: “The investment market has been competitive and challenging due to economic uncertainties.

“We can see that the external factors have affected the capital market performance and the market is subdued.” — Bernama