The Malaysian arm of the largest Islamic bank in Saudi Arabia is anchoring its digital bank ambitions with a new office in Kuala Lumpur and has appointed a new head to lead the operations.
Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia (ARBM)’s new workspace in Menara Hap Seng 3 will house its digital bank team in addition to other divisions. The digital bank team, which has been tasked to oversee the launching of ARBM’s digital bank this year, will be led by Ikram Khaliq. Appointed as head of digital bank, Ikram, who relocated from the UK to Malaysia, has 16 years of experience in finance and fintech consultancy.
“We have invested significantly in digital innovation as we lay the foundation of a customer-focused digital bank, and we are indeed pleased to have Ikram on board to lead the team. We aspire to set a new standard of excellence for Islamic banking in Malaysia through best-in-class digital banking propositions and channels to benefit ARBM’s individual and business customers. This is in line with the strategic thrusts of the Financial Sector Blueprint 2022-26 which focuses on the advancement of digitalization of the financial sector as well as Islamic finance leadership, on top of the Malaysian government’s emphasis on digital technology as outlined in the 12th Malaysia Plan,” said Arsalaan Ahmed, CEO of ARBM.
ARBM is steadfast in working toward launching a digital bank in 2022 as part of its multi-year digital strategy launched in 2021: last month, it engaged core banking technology firm Thought Machine to aid it in rolling out the virtual bank.