NEWS IN BRIEF : JUNE 11, 2021

AMBANK has bagged the ‘Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards 2021 - Best Digital Employee Engagement Initiative/Application 2021’ by The Asian Banker.

AmBank’s Retail Banking managing director  Aaron Loo said the bank's efforts to keep its employees engaged and motivated was not solely based on work-related recognition, as it also includes a host of activities that supported the team’s mental and physical wellbeing. 

“These efforts yielded tangible results with staff engagement, and as a result, customer satisfaction increased dramatically,” he said in a statement.

The Asian Banker Awards is one of the industry’s most prestigious recognition, due to its rigorous criteria for innovativeness in retail financing in Asia Pacific, Central Asia, the West Asia and Africa.

-- BERNAMA

EDOTCO Group has released a whitepaper highlighting the need for telecommunications infrastructure companies (towercos) to be nimble and well capitalised to facilitate national economic and social developments.

The stakes for information and communications technology (ICT) deployment and usage have increased as commerce, work and learning become more reliant on ICT following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chief executive officer Mohd Adlan Mohd Tajudin said towercos have now taken on the crucial need to fulfil demand for additional capacity.

“COVID-19 was a stress test to the nations’ digital infrastructure, and operators had to modify their business plans to ensure data traffic was managed. This paper discusses how the telecommunications ecosystem must come together to ensure that we are ready to handle these challenges.

“We also discussed how active infrastructure sharing will grow in popularity with the rollout of 5G and how it can help expand coverage, reduce costs, avoid infrastructure duplication and maximise existing network facilities,” he said in a statement.

-- BERNAMA

UOB MALAYSIA has extended its COVID-19 Relief Assistance Programme for customers affected by the nation-wide Movement Control Order (MCO 3.0) that started on June 1, 2021.

The programme, which was established in March 2020 and revised in October 2020, is now being enhanced in line with the government’s recent PEMERKASA Plus aid package.

Chief executive officer Wong Kim Choong said UOB Malaysia remains committed to supporting customers who are in need of financial relief and will continue its efforts to tailor its relief assistance initiatives to suit the customers’ specific circumstances.

As at May 28, 2021, UOB Malaysia received more than 13,000 applications for repayment relief, with an approval rate of 99 per cent.

“Given that the tighter MCO 3.0 period may present additional challenges to lives and livelihoods, customers with existing repayment assistance arrangements are also encouraged to contact the bank for further assistance if they continue to face difficulties,” he said in a statement.

-- BERNAMA

DIRECT LENDING SDN BHD, an online personal lending marketplace, has launched the  #DirectBantu Plus campaign to help ease people’s financial burden during the recently announced full lockdown. 

Through the corporate social responsibility programme which will run throughout this month, the company aims to help Malaysians by offering special cash rebates of up to RM700 on personal loans.

It also offers income opportunities via a referral programme where referees can earn RM250 for each successful referral and RM1,000 for a cumulative three referrals for civil servant lending, said director and founder Hui Yik Seong in a statement today.

The campaign will also allow Malaysians to earn and explore new income opportunities in gig economy and eCommerce with #DirectBantu Plus’ partners, he added.

-- BERNAMA

SHOPEEPAY's eBelia programme has recorded almost one million claims as of June 7 and has succeeded in generating sales amounting to 120 per cent of the total amount disbursed by the Ministry of Finance through ShopeePay.

Additionally, some 140,000 sellers and traders who accepted ShopeePay have already benefited from the eBelia programme.

Head of ShopeePay Malaysia Alain Yee said based on the preliminary data from June 1-7, user behaviour amongst eBelia recipients suggest that the programme has driven adoption of e-wallets and is likely going to lead to long-term usage.

“Of the total successful eBelia applicants via our mobile wallet, about 40 per cent are new ShopeePay users that activated their e-wallet just for eBelia.

“We are positive that the customer retention rate among these new users will be high, as over 20 per cent have already topped up their e-wallet at least once within the first week of using ShopeePay,” he said in a statement.

-- BERNAMA