9 minute read
Ambank Islamic Awarded Best Islamic Corporate Bank In Malaysia 2020
mBank Islamic Berhad A was awarded Best Islamic Corporate Bank Malaysia 2020 by Global Banking & Finance Review. Eqhwan Mokhzanee, Chief Executive Officer, AmBank Islamic, the award underscored the bank’s commitment in providing a suite of value-added Shariah-compliant wholesale banking solutions and services, formulated to help our clients to evolve in line with market changes.
“These included being a utility bank for e-wallet platforms and introduced a bespoke solution to facilitate fintech player’s online acquisition and on-boarding of new customers”.
Dato’ Sulaiman Mohd Tahir, mBank and Visa recently credit card propositions and offerings to the market, the first among local banks in the industry.
The cash rebate credit card was launched to meet the new normal needs of customers, with a unique proposition that rewards cash rebates on groceries, pharmacy and online spends (including eWallet reloads), aimed to address present consumer spending behaviours on essentials. With this credit card, customers get up to 8% cash rebate on these categories.
“With the current spending behaviours, we are launching a card which would suit our cardholders’
From left: Raja Teh Maimunah Raja Abdul Aziz, Managing Director, Wholesale Banking, AmBank Group, Dato’ Sulaiman Mohd Tahir, Group Chief Executive Officer, AmBank Group and Eqhwan Mokhzanee, Chief Executive Officer, AmBank Islamic with the Best Islamic Corporate Bank Malaysia 2020 Award by Global Banking and Finance Review.
Group Chief Executive Officer of AmBank Group, said Islamic banking has grown consistently needs. Hence the reason why we have specifically chosen these three categories – groceries, pharmacy and online to make essential spend more affordable for our customers,” said Aaron Loo, Managing Director, Retail Banking, AmBank.
Customers can enjoy cash rebate on their necessities when they buy groceries at various prominent grocers and pharmacies, among others. In addition, customers will be rewarded with unlimited 0.1% cashback on all other eligible retail spending.
The new card also offers a 10% credit card interest rebate. Customers can enjoy all these attractive features at no fee, as the annual fee for this card is waived. over the years, and AmBank Islamic has played a pivotal role to drive the growth in this sector. “We will continue to make further strides to achieve our goals and maintain our position as one of the nation’s leading Shariah-compliant bank especially in the space of corporate or wholesale banking.”
GBAF, established in 2011, is a UK-based financial portal and print magazine. GBAF Awards reflect the innovation, achievement, strategy, progressive and inspirational changes taking place within the Global Financial community. The awards were created to recognize companies of all sizes which are prominent in particular areas of expertise and
Ambank Launches New Cash Rebate Credit Card
Aentered into a strategic partnership to elevate its
excellence within the financial world.
From left: Aaron Loo, Managing Director, Retail Banking, AmBank, Dato’ Sulaiman Mohd Tahir, Group Chief Executive Officer, AmBank Group and Ng Kong Boon, Visa Country Manager for Malaysia at the official launch of AmBank Cash Rebate Credit Card in partnership with VISA.
VISA Country Manager for Malaysia, Ng Kong Boon, said, “The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital commerce. The top categories of spending include essential goods, which is aligned with the cashback rewards that we are giving our cardholders.”
Sephora Singapore Partners with Atome in Offering Buy Now, Pay Later Payments
Ahead of a planned roll out in Malaysia, French prestige beauty retail giant Sephora Singapore has partnered with ‘buy now, pay later’ service Atome to offer customers flexible payment options across its e-commerce website, mobile app, and brick & mortar stores in Singapore.
Alia Gogi, President of Sephora Asia, said: “We’re delighted to partner with Atome in introducing ‘buy now, pay later’ flexible payment options to first our Singapore – and later Malaysian – customers, enhancing their shopping experience both online and in our stores.”
Sephora is the world’s leading prestige beauty retailer with over 2,600 stores in 38 markets, offering customers a unique retail experience with innovative services and nearly 300 beauty brands. Atome, a leading “buy now, pay later” technology company headquartered in Singapore, launched its service in December 2019 and now partners 1,500 online and offline retailers across verticals including fashion, beauty, homeware and lifestyle.
Atome has since expanded to Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Vietnam. David Chen, CEO of Atome, said, “We’re thrilled to be able to offer Sephora customers in Singapore, and later Malaysia, a safe, easy and flexible payment experience, especially as we enter the festive end-ofyear shopping season.”
Work in Style from Hotel
Take Your Productivity up a Notch with Work-fromHotel Packages in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur
A shift of atmosphere once in a while would not hurt, especially amidst a global pandemic which led many people to be in a state of caution and worry most of the time.
Working from home has now become a new norm but to some, home may not be the best place to focus on their work. There might be a lot of distractions and to some, the repetitive work environment is not exciting enough.
Maybe it is time to hop-on the rising trend of working-from-hotel for a change and a boost of productivity. Several hotels in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur are offering work-from-hotel packages to improve work productivity and get things done amidst comfort and quality service hospitality.
And if you need to take a break from the work, you can use the facilities at the hotel’s fitness centre or spend the night at the hotel at a discounted price.
Sony’s Plant in Penang to Close After 36 years, 3,400 Workers Affected
The Sony manufacturing plant in Penang will cease operations next September, after 36 years in operation. Close to 3,400 workers, of which 1,800 are Malaysians, are expected to be laid off, State International and Domestic Trade Committee chairman Halim Hussain recently told Free Malaysia Today, an independent news
Yayasan Petronas Contributes RM2.5 Million Worth of Medical Equipment and PPE to Sabah Hospitals
Petronas, through its corporate social responsibility arm Yayasan Petronas, is contributing RM2.5 million worth of medical equipment and Personal Protection
Equipment (PPE) to hospitals across Sabah to support the efforts of medical front-liners in managing the recent rise in COVID-19 cases. Yayasan Petronas will be providing medical equipment which includes powered air purifying respirators, high flow nasal cannula, four-parameter vital sign monitors and high-end physiologic monitors for the nursing care, emergency and trauma, intensive care and paediatric intensive care wards.
The contribution will be channelled in stages to public hospitals in Kota Kinabalu, Keningau, Tawau,
Sandakan and Lahad Datu. Commenting on the effort, Yayasan Petronas
Chairman, Tan Sri Ahmad Nizam Salleh, said: “In collaboration with the State Health Department, it is my hope that our modest contribution will help portal. The other 1,600 are foreigners. “Some of these employees will be transferred to Sony’s factory in Bangi. The state government will be helping those who have been retrenched to find new jobs,” he added.
Halim said the plant will be closing in stages and will fully cease operations next September. “This is part of Sony’s plan to restructure its operations globally.” He believed that the closure is a necessary transitory process, given the fierce competition in the multinational manufacturing industry.
Halim said that with the state drawing RM10 billion in foreign direct investments (FDI) this year, more than 9,000 jobs will be generated in the near future and there was hope for those retrenched. “The state government will not leave these retrenched workers stranded. With the 9,000 jobs generated, there will always be work for
them to find.” aid the Sabah state in overcoming the third wave of infections soonest.”
In early October, Yayasan Petronas contributed 1,504 bottles of hand sanitiser, 2,500 pieces of surgical face masks and 2,390 medical gowns to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Kota Kinabalu. The Foundation also contributed two units of ventilators to the hospital in August.
These contributions are in addition to the provision of critical medical equipment and supplies worth RM20 million to aid the country’s hospitals, healthcare frontliners, and high-risk groups in mitigating the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in March this year.
As at 30 June 2020, the initiatives and efforts undertaken by the Petronas Group to support the nation in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 stand at about RM40 million – which includes contributions from Petronas’ employees amounting to RM6.4 million.
Mah Sing Ventures Into Glove Business
Mah Sing Group Berhad recently diversified into healthcare by venturing into glove manufacturing via Mah Sing Healthcare Sdn Bhd. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan MD Yusof witnessed Mah Sing Healthcare entering several agreements with multiple parties which officially kick start the new venture.
The new venture is part of the Group’s plan to expand its manufacturing division by venturing into the healthcare sector, leveraging on its experience as a plastics manufacturer over the past four decades, and is supported by potential synergies to be derived amongst the Group’s gloves business, plastic business and property business.
Mah Sing Healthcare will be converting a warehouse in Kapar, Klang into its first glove manufacturing factory. The factory is located within an industrial area equipped with ready infrastructure, allowing for a swift and easy set-up of the production lines. With a build-up of about 228,800 sq ft, Phase 1 of the factory could house 12 new production lines with a maximum capacity up to 3.68 billion pieces of gloves per annum – at a speed of 38,000 pieces of gloves per production line per hour.
Mah Sing Healthcare has already signed the letter of award to purchase new machinery for 12 production lines. The first 6 production lines are expected to be ready for operation as early as 2Q 2021, followed by another 6 production lines expected to be ready by 3Q 2021. It also entered into letters of intent with several raw material suppliers for supply of both Nitrilebutadiene rubber and latex raw materials when operation commences.
Robinsons Begins Liquidation of Malaysian Stores
Robinson Co (Malaya) Sdn Bhd has begun the liquidation process of its two stores in Malaysia, located at The Gardens Mall and Shoppes at Four Seasons Place.
Datuk Robert Teo Keng Tuan of RSM Malaysia has been appointed as interim liquidator. The provisional liquidator will now take control of the company’s assets and assess options to realise value in order to maximise returns to creditors. Subject to confirmation, the liquidators are hoping the stores will remain open for the coming weeks to facilitate final sales for customers before they are shuttered.
Globally, retail buying patterns are seeing significant shifts from offline to online spending with the Global E-Commerce Industry 2020 report showing that Asia Pacific will produce nearly 63% of all digital sales this year. Furthermore, demand for department store concepts has weakened significantly with reports showing a drop in retail sales, recording a negative growth rate of 8.5% in Malaysia for Q12020, as compared to the same period a year ago.
In Malaysia, the retail industry recorded the worst growth rate in 33 years with the outlook remaining negative for the remaining months of the year as consumers are expected to tighten their spending.
