UOB Malaysia puts into motion strategic initiatives to accelerate digital agenda

Since 2018, the Bank has embarked on a digital transformation journey to deliver seamless customer experience and frictionless banking.

If there is one thing UOB Malaysia has learnt in the past three years, it is that digital banking, automation, and commerce have proven to be a decisive turning point in its ongoing digital agenda. The current crisis has heightened awareness of social fractures and business closures that eventually affected its customers.

Being at the forefront of the banking industry, the Bank has taken on the challenge to adapt and move forward with its processes to serve their customers better. UOB Malaysia accelerated with far greater speed in its digital agenda to ensure continuous, convenient and safe access to its products and services for its customers.

Digital transformation journey

UOB Malaysia embarked on a digital transformation journey in 2018 with the aim to deliver a seamless customer experience and frictionless banking. As part of such a journey, the Bank had undertaken a series of strategic initiatives to further strengthen and reinforce itself as the preferred brand of choice for money and wealth management.

Among these digital innovations is the UOB Malaysia’s Mighty app with Might Insights, a first-in-kind AI-enabled money management tool. As mobile usage increases rapidly nowadays, UOB Malaysia has invested in enhancing its Mighty app to make it a functional all-in-one app that integrates banking, payment, dining, and now with Coupons & Mighty Insights.

The in-built AI features make customer banking smarter by serving them the most relevant insights based on their transaction habits. It gives meaning to the numbers recorded to customers, as it tracks their spending and categorises it for better decision making. Aside from that, it analyses their cash flow for better financial management, notifies them of new account activities to identify anomalies more easily, reminds them of upcoming payments and enables good money management habits through personalised tips, alerts, and nudges.

Meeting customers’ needs

Above all the innovations and strategies employed, the main motivation for UOB Malaysia to improve its services is its commitment to serve the customers’ needs. 

“As we focus on creating financial solutions that are essential to the lifestyles and life stages and enhancing the digital experience for our customers, the Bank continues to transform its banking experience with the aim to maintain and deepen our relationship with customers,” said Ronnie Lim, UOB Malaysia’s Managing Director and Country Head of Personal Financial Services.
 

The bank’s digitalisation journey mainly focused on improving three areas: digitising the customer’s onboarding journey, cross-selling journey, and after-sales services journey. UOB Malaysia has taken the holistic approach through online account opening, digital insurance onboarding via its Pulse app, remote engagement platforms for wealth services order taking, and remote call agent platforms to acquire credit cards to be able to achieve pre-pandemic card acquisitions.

Its agility in helping retail customers to protect and to grow their wealth sustainably amid challenges of the pandemic has also proven to be successful as demonstrated by the Mighty app. Through the Bank’s well-established risk-first approach to wealth management, customers can ascertain their risk profile and understand their risk appetite, and make informed investment decisions amidst current market headwinds brought about by the impacts of the pandemic.

Furthermore, as part of its long-term effort in its digital journey, UOB Malaysia had invested in training and reskilling employees in digital, leadership and process improvements in the last 18 months. The Bank collaborated with human resources to institutionalise training and reskilling programmes.

In UOB Malaysia’s development of its digital capabilities to cater to the needs of its customers, the Bank has won the International Retail Bank of the Year - Malaysia and Digital Banking Initiative of the Year – Malaysia at the Asian Banking & Finance Wholesale Banking Awards. Such accolades are a testament to UOB Malaysia’s progressive and customer-centric solutions.

“We will remain steadfast in helping our customers to overcome the challenges from the pandemic and in staying attuned to their needs as we continue to deepen our relationships with them,” said Lim.

When asked about the future, Lim emphasised building capabilities to serve a broader Malaysian population from simple products to wealth management services. He said UOB Malaysia will be introducing more digital platforms to make wealth management services accessible to the masses.