KUALA LUMPUR (July 17): Hong Leong Bank Bhd (HLB) has won the ‘Malaysia’s Best Bank’ title at the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2017 for its ongoing transformation towards being a “highly digital and innovative” Asean financial services company.

In a statement today, HLB said it has an impressive track record of consistently enhancing customer propositions through both product and service innovation  

“We pride ourselves as a forward-thinking bank — a vision that is reflected in our solutions, through the use of innovative and cutting-edge technologies,” said HLB managing director and chief executive officer Domenic Fuda.

Some of the innovations initiated by HLB are the use of artificial intelligence in support of customer service (powered by IBM Watson’s cognitive computing technology), the appearance of a robotic concierge at branches to help guide customers, and the launch of “Loan2Go” being a straight-through-processing mobile auto loan application platform.

“We are living up to our aspiration of being digital at the core. This does not simply mean being mobile or just by having the latest technology. It is about finding new ideas to interact and engage with our customers and staff. Ultimately, it is them that drive change and innovation at the bank, and we have them to thank for this award,” added Fuda.