Affin upbeat on 2019 prospect

KUALA LUMPUR: Affin Bank Bhd says it is positive on prospects for the current year, with the bank’s profitability maintained or further improved from last year.

Group chief executive officer Kamarul Ariffin Mohd Jamil said the better anticipated 2019 financial performance would be driven by the small and medium enterprise (SME) as well as retail segments.

“For last year, the numbers were good and for this year, it would be the same trend as last year, in line with our Affinity Transformation programme, which will end next year,” he told reporters after the OMG campaign prize giving ceremony yesterday.

He further explained that the bank is also looking at a loan growth of between six per cent and seven per cent this year.

“We will also introduce a new system which would enhance services for retail and mobile Internet banking,” he said, adding that the bank’s e-wallet product is expected to be released in the final quarter of 2019.

The OMG campaign, which has entered its seventh year, saw a sum of RM500 million deposited during the six- month campaign with 49,955 new accounts opened.

“The contribution of the campaign to the deposit is substantial, resulting in yearon-year retail deposit growth of 11 per cent,” Kamarul explained.

Of the 49,955 new accounts, 36,000 were fixed deposit accounts with the remainder comprising current accounts and saving accounts. — Bernama