Analysts upbeat on Maybank’s continuous digital initiatives

PETALING JAYA: Malayan Banking Bhd’s (Maybank) digital initiatives will ensure that the bank will be able to weather the changes brought about by technology in the banking and financial services industry.

Analysts said the bank’s move to reinforce its presence in the digital space “is a step in the right direction”. They are upbeat on Maybank’s outlook, given its continuous digital initiatives as it explores more robust opportuni- ties in the digital space.

According to CIMB Research, Maybank “is at the forefront to capitalise on Malaysia’s digital banking trend, moving forward”, as the bank was among the first to invest in the segment.

This is also in line with the projected significant growth in e-commerce transactions over the next few years. In Malaysia, e-commerce transactions are anticipated to expand by a compounded annual growth rate of 23% until 2021.

“Following Maybank’s Digital Day on Monday, we gained more insights into Maybank’s digital banking initi- atives and developments, which reaffirmed our positive views on Maybank’s growth in this space,” it said.

The research house added that Maybank expected its digital monetary transactions and active users to expand by another 25% to 35% in 2017 and 2018.

“For mobile banking, Maybank expects total transactions to touch one billion this year, representing a surge of 116% from 2016.

“It expects the total transaction value conducted via mobile banking to jump by 95% to RM22bil in 2017 as compared to last year,” said CIMB Research in a note.

The research house has maintained a “hold” call on Maybank, but has raised its target price to RM9.05 from RM8.90 previously.

Maybank recently unveiled the revamped Maybank2u service, which comes with Secure2u, the latest digital security feature on Maybank2u. Secure2u provides a digital signing feature for enhanced security and to prevent online theft.

Maybank has seen significant growth in the digital space over the years, with nearly 48% of eligible customers digitally active with the bank.