CIMB attributes its performance over the past year to its ability to position itself correctly and early for opportunities – and then to take them.
It cites the pick-up in travel and spending in late 2021 (at a time when many countries were still in lockdown because of Covid) and its early positioning in anticipation of borders reopening.
An example of this is the launch of OctoTravel, Malaysia’s first bank-linked travel site and mobile app, in early 2022. CIMB cardholders can plan all their travel needs on the platform.
Another was the launch in October 2022 of a new travel MasterCard that offers air miles and hotel points conversion, complimentary airport-lounge access and hotel-stay benefits, and zero mark-up on overseas spending.
This has proved popular: more than 22,000 CIMB travel cards have been issued since launch, and by June 2023, spending had exceeded RM2 billion ($440 million) and was growing at roughly 15% month on month.
Such positioning shows the strength of CIMB’s consumer banking franchise. In 2022, this division’s revenues rose 7.6% from a year earlier, net profit before tax grew 38.1%, the loan book rose 5.6% and deposits by 2.6%. Within consumer banking, all main business lines performed well, while growth in mortgage and auto loans exceeded the industry average.
But