Press Release 2018

UOB Malaysia relocates its Kuching branch to provide full suite of financial advisory services under one roof

The branch at iCom Square will host a dedicated Wealth and Privilege Banking Centre to serve customers lifestyle needs

Kuching, Malaysia, 12 July 2018 - United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd (UOB Malaysia) today announced the official opening of its branch in iCom Square, Kuching. The new branch houses a dedicated Wealth and Privilege Banking Centre to provide customers with the full suite of wealth advisory services and wealth management solutions.

The provision of dedicated wealth services in Kuching is in line with an increase in the Bank wealth management portfolio in East Malaysia, which has grown by 15 per cent in the past year . The iCom Square branch was relocated from Main Bazaar, which had been serving business and individual customers for 16 years.

Mr Wong Kim Choong, Chief Executive Officer, UOB Malaysia, said that the Bank new branch in iCom Square is strategically located between the old business district in downtown Kuching and the city bourgeoning new commercial district in the East.

An increasing number of our customers work in and around the iCom Square commercial centre. With the relocation of our branch and configuration of the premises, our customers will have added convenience and greater accessibility to our branch and to our range of services.

Mr Wong said that in configuring the branch, the Bank drew on its insights into and understanding of the needs and goals of its customers amid their changing lifestyles.

We know that our customers increasingly use their mobile phones or go online to access information, to conduct simple banking transactions and to manage their accounts. They are now less likely to visit the branch for basic transactions. Instead, they are more likely to visit the branch for customised services such as financial advisory. Taking this into account, we have made the first floor a dedicated Wealth and Privilege Banking Centre to provide our customers with a comfortable space to discuss their wealth management needs.

The dedicated Wealth and Privilege Banking Centre will provide customers with a host of wealth management solutions ranging from tax planning, wealth structuring and estate planning to portfolio management. UOB Malaysia wealth advisers will assess, evaluate and recommend solutions based on customers individual wealth needs.

In line with the Bank focus to harness digital innovation and in keeping with its customers preference to access information through their mobile devices, the branch is equipped with a Quick Response (QR) Code Wall. This will enable customers to access information about the bank products and services quickly and conveniently through their mobile device. This is the first of UOB Malaysia branches to feature a QR Code Wall. The Bank plans to equip further branches with this digital facility in the coming months.

In addition to serving the personal wealth needs of its individual customers, the UOB Kuching branch at iCom Square will operate as a one stop banking centre for its corporate, commercial and business banking customers. The branch will also offer additional services such as exclusive parking bays, access to WiFi and enclosed teller booths to give customers more privacy and security as they carry out their banking transactions.

The branch features a special exhibition charting the history of UOB founder, Kuching-born, Dato Sri Wee Kheng Chiang. The late Dato Sri Wee had laid the foundation for UOB and was instrumental in leading the Bank growth across Asia. Dato Sri Wee had also made significant contributions to Sarawak as a philanthropist and prominent businessman. He was widely regarded as the Father of Philanthropy in Sarawak for his support of causes affiliated to education, Chinese associations, culture, sports and the underprivileged.

UOB Malaysia branch at iCom Square is open from Monday to Friday, 9.30 am to 4.00 pm. It is located at Block C, iCom Square, Jalan Pending, Kuching.

In a recent survey conducted by UOB, EY⁴ and Dun & Bradstreet⁵ titled ASEAN SME Transformation Survey⁶ , almost seven out of 10 Malaysian SMEs thought automating and digitising their business processes was the best way to raise productivity levels and to reduce overall operating costs in the long run.

When asked to rank on a scale of one (not important) to five (very important) the most effective methods to manage costs, 69 per cent of the Malaysian SMEs surveyed said that raising productivity through automation, greater use of technology and business process simplification would be important or very important to driving productivity.

From the ASEAN SME Transformation Survey, we know that managing costs while raising productivity is a challenge and a concern for SMEs in Malaysia. While SMEs are keen to reap the benefits of digital technology, it can be costly to implement such technology. To help SMEs overcome this challenge, UOB Malaysia is committed to building small business solutions that will help prepare businesses for the digital age and enable them to progress through different stages of growth more effectively, Mr Chui said.

In line with their focus on harnessing technology to help drive performance, 65 per cent of companies surveyed said they intend to invest in technology infrastructure, while 71 per cent indicated that they would welcome funding assistance to help them adopt digital technology faster. Of the companies surveyed, 77 per cent said they would invest in strengthening their Information, Communications and Technology hardware and network systems while 78 per cent said they would invest in digital marketing and mobile application solutions to help deliver strong business performance.

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¹UOB Malaysia defines its Wealth segment as customers with assets under management of more than RM150,000
² UOB Malaysia defines its Privilege segment as customers with assets under management of more than RM500,000
³UOB Malaysia data, growth of UOB Malaysia’s Wealth and Privilege Banking customers’ assets under management in East Malaysia from 31 December 2016 to 31 December 2017