Malaysia’s CIMB partners with FINTQ, Bayad Center to scale up PHL ops

Kuala Lumpur-based CIMB Bank Berhad has partnered with PLDT Inc. affiliates CIS Bayad Center Inc. and FINTQnologies Corp. to scale up operations in the country by leveraging on the two companies’ network and services.

Through CIMB Bank Philippines Inc., the branch being set up in the Philippines,  CIMB, entered into partnership agreements with Bayad Center and FINTQ.

“This marks a major milestone in CIMB’s expansion into the Philippines, in preparation for the establishment of its operations in the fourth quarter of 2018,” the Malaysian bank said in a statement.

CIMB said the bank will leverage on Bayad Center’s network of more than 12,000 payment channels nationwide to scale up its market reach in the Philippines.

Its partnership with FINTQ will allow the bank to leverage on the subscriber base and customer database of Lendr—FINTQ’s digital lending platform.

“CIMB will be offering loans to Filipinos using FINTQ’s digital lending platform,” Nick Wilwayco, head of communications at PLDT’ Voyager Innovations, told GMA News Online.

The bank is confident that by leveraging on its partners’ local strengths as well as CIMB’s extensive digital experience, “we will be able to provide our customers in the Philippines with a seamless digital banking experience,” said Tengku Dato’ Sri Zafrul Aziz, chief execuctive officer of CIMB Group.

On the other hand, Manuel Pangilinan, PLDT chairman and chief executive officier, said, “We are excited to collaborate with CIMB in this fast-growing FinTech space. This is in line with our mission to collaborate with partners and develop mutually beneficial propositions. This is just the start of a long-term fruitful partnership with one of ASEAN’s largest banks.”

CIMB Group is Malaysia’s second largest financial services provider and one of Southeast Asia's leading universal banking groups.

It offers consumer banking, investment banking, Islamic banking, asset management, and insurance products and services. CIMB is present in nine of the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, namely Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Brunei, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Laos. It also has presence in China, Hong Kong, India, Sri Lanka, Korea, the US and UK. —VDS, GMA News