Dutch investment bank ABN Amro announced Friday it will boost its consumer banking operations in Malaysia, a move it said was part of its expansion into the region. The bank unveiled a new banking service aimed at high net worth customers and also said it would open more branches in the country.
"We already have a successful track record in commercial banking in Malaysia and it is a natural next step for us to expand our services to consumer banking," said Harry Naysmith, managing director of local unit ABN Amro Bank Berhad. "We believe there is a growing mass affluent segment in Malaysia, requiring sophisticated financial products," he told reporters.
The bank will open two more branches in the country by June - in southern Johor Bahru city and Sitiawan, a town near the coast of western Perak state. ABN Amro already has three branches in the capital Kuala Lumpur, northern Penang state and the offshore financial hub of Labuan.
Its head of consumer clients for Asia, Jim Brown, said Malaysia was now one of nine Asian countries where ABN Amro is offering financial management services to target affluent customers. "We are looking to expand our consumer business throughout Asia. Today we operate that in nine countries in Asia. All these businesses are expanding very rapidly," Brown said.
However, Naysmith said ABN Amro intended to remain a niche bank in Malaysia. "It is not our intention to set up a huge distribution network. That is not our strategy. At the end of the day, we'd expect, hopefully, to have 10 to 12 branches," he said.