KUALA LUMPUR (April 17): Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) expects the number of online banking transactions to increase by 50% to 6.4 billion this year, fuelled by an enhanced Maybank2u website which will be launched on Thursday.

Maybank group head of community financial services Datuk Lim Hong Tat said since the introduction of the bank’s online banking service in 2000, the number of transactions conducted on its online platform had risen steadily each year, reaching 4.27 billion last year.

“With the advent of mobile banking and the increasing use of smartphone coupled with growing internet penetration, the growth in online transactions had accelerated, recording a 49% increase in 2017,” he said in a statement today.

Lim added that last year, the total number of online banking monetary transactions via Maybank2u totalled around 360 million and at its peak, it recorded some 20 million transactions in one day.

He noted that the bank has been seeing a rapid shift in the number of transactions conducted online from over-the-counter, given the speed, security and convenience offered by Maybank2u.

“In 2017, some 99.6% of our total consumer banking payments and transfers was conducted over our online and self-service platforms,” he said. “The trend will continue given the quantum leap in online banking users and the added functionalities that have simplified banking even more in the new Maybank2u website.”

The number of registered users of Maybank2u currently stands at 10.69 million.

“Today, some 50% of our consumer banking customers are actively using this platform and we expect this to grow as we continuously strive to create greater value through the addition of new services and enhanced user experience for our customers,” said Lim.

Maybank group chief strategy officer Michael Foong said the new website is part of the group’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its digital banking offering in line with its strategic objective of becoming the digital bank of choice in the region by 2020.

The new Maybank2u comes with a complete change of user interface and offers an enhanced experience when transacting. It has also been simplified taking into account the personalised needs and feedback of customers.

A progressive rollout of the new website will soon start, and during the initial phase, the classic site will continue to be available.

To be released in phases is also a debit and credit card spending pattern tracker, which offers users the ability to quickly understand their spending habits — not only to track them but also adjust and manage their spending according to individual needs.

Along with the spending tracker feature is the Goal Savings Plan, which offers a customised savings planner for customers to plan and achieve their goals by putting aside savings in specially created sub-accounts. “This will be helpful for those who would like to save towards a specific target such as a holiday, a purchase of a specific item or to set aside funds for a rainy day,” said Lim.

The newly designed Maybank2u will also progressively be rolled out to Maybank’s key markets overseas such as Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines with work in progress already underway for the new Maybank App in line with the group’s mobile first strategy.