Sungai Petani, Thursday, 13 October 2011 - The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) today announced the introduction of a standardised template for a Customer Service Charter for commercial banks which is aimed at underscoring their commitment to deliver a consistent high standard of customer service.

A collaborative effort between its members and ABM, the Customer Service Charter is yet another initiative by the commercial banking sector to improve efficiency and to enhance accountability towards consumerism. Chuah Mei Lin, Executive Director of ABM explains, “Our member banks will be guided by five key principles as they continuously work towards improving the standards of service as well as building stronger customer-banker relationships – accountability, fairness, privacy, reliability and transparency. The Customer Service Charter also sets out the time frames within which a customer can expect the banks respectively to deliver the services highlighted. In this manner, customers will be better equipped to set their expectations accordingly when conducting business with a particular bank. In addition, they can review all the information furnished and use the turn-around times as a comparative tool to shop for banking services if they wish.”

A majority of ABM’s member banks will begin to post their Customer Service Charters either on their websites and/or banking halls with this announcement. For those interested, the standardised template of the Customer Service Charter is also on ABM’s website at www.abm.org.my.

The launch of the Customer Service Charter follows on the heels of ABM’s PARTNER initiative last year, focusing on streamlining and simplifying processes and procedures of loan applications for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which has been well received.

“In this competitive climate, customers expect the best from their banks. Thus, banks are mindful that they have to be responsive to customers’ needs and to be responsible for the services they provide their customers. ABM will continue to explore ways and means to lend effect to the same with our members and the consumers,” highlighted Chuah.

ABM continues to reach out to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

The announcement on the Customer Service Charter was made at a SME Seminar organized by ABM at the Concourse, Village Mall in Sungai Petani, Kedah in conjunction with Minggu Kesedaran Kewangan 2011, an annual event jointly organized this year by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the Securities Commission, Financial Mediation Bureau, Perbadanan Insurans Deposit Malaysia and Agensi Kaunseling dan Pengurusan Kredit. More than 100 participants, comprising mostly business owners and entrepreneurs from Sungai Petani itself, Alor Setar, Kulim and the vicinity attended the SME Seminar.

Over the course of the morning and afternoon sessions, attendees had the opportunity to listen to presentations by BNM, SME Corporation Malaysia, Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Berhad, Malaysian Green Technology Corporation, ABM member banks and ABM. Topics covered included practical tips on cash-flow management, business loan applications, tackling foreign exchange risks and the various alternative avenues to financing such as SME funds.

Invitations were also issued to 12 SME organizations in the region for a dialogue jointly chaired by BNM and ABM in the later part of the day. The interactive session served to enable parties to have a candid discussion on issues if any faced by SMEs, particularly those in the region, and to strengthen the communication channel between SMEs and bankers.

“It is our intention to reach out to the businesses on the ground so that we may have a better understanding of the issues they face, if any, with regard to access to financing. Dialogues of this nature have been held in Pulau Pinang, Batu Pahat, Kuala Terengganu, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Ipoh and Kuantan. This being our eighth in the series, the engagement has indeed proven once again to be an effective sounding board for BNM and us as we work together towards ensuring that bankers remain relevant and true partners of SMEs in their growth/development cycle,” said Chuah.

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