This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on November 9, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: RHB Bank Bhd, which had seen a “quite good” mortgage loan growth of about 15% as at end-October, has digitalised mortgage application by enabling applicants to file application through their smartphones.

At the launch of the service yesterday, RHB’s group managing director Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli said the mobile application, dubbed RHB MyHome App, is the first of its kind in the Southeast Asian finance industry, and is aimed at providing the convenience of mortgage application, document submission and status checking via mobile devices.

Khairussaleh said mortgages presently constitute about RM45 billion or 25% of the group’s total loan portfolio.

“As at end-October, our mortgage [loan] growth had been quite good, about 15%, against the industry average of 9%. For the next 12 months, we expect at least 1,500 application or 8% to 10% of our total mortgages to come through the app,” he said.

Khairussaleh said the app also provides customers easy and quick access to information on financing options under RHB available to them, including pricing, conditions and rates.

Apart from the app, which went live yesterday on both the Android and the iOS platforms, Khairussaleh also launched another service called Banking-at-Your-Doorstep, which allows new customers to open an RHB Smart Account via the Internet without having to visit bank branches.

Those who do so can then activate their account and opt for delivery of their debit card at home or their workplace, at a prearranged time where an on-the-spot verification process will be conducted by RHB’s own staff.

Khairussaleh said the service is available in the Klang Valley from yesterday, and will be extended to other regions within Malaysia over the “next few months”.

“The RHB MyHome App and Banking-at-Your-Doorstep services take us a step closer towards achieving our digital aspirations and will enhance our digital capabilities across all distribution channels, allowing us to be more responsive to the needs of our customers with a faster turnaround time,” he said.

Khairussaleh said RHB anticipates that there will be more than 50,000 RHB Smart Accounts or RHB Smart Account-i being opened in the coming 12 months, of which some 30% are expected to come from Banking-at-Your-Doorstep.

Launched on March 1, RHB Smart Account/RHB Smart Account-i are online deposit accounts that offer customers a return of 3% per annum plus 1% bonus payouts when they save, pay bills online, spend and invest with RHB.

The RHB Smart Account is a conventional account, whereas the RHB Smart Account-i is an Islamic account under the Commodity Murabahah (cost plus profit) concept.

Notwithstanding the group’s aggressive digitalisation, Khairussaleh said RHB is not downsizing its branch portfolio. “Branches remain our brick and mortar, and it is important to us because we have various customer segments to serve, and it is a key [product] distribution channel,” he said.