Project Wins CIMB Group 2008 Financial Insights Innovation Asia Award

PETALING JAYA, 7 May 2008 - CIMB Group’s collaboration with Fuji Xerox to automate account opening processes at CIMB Bank branches nationwide has won the Group the 2008 Financial Insights Innovation Asia Award. The Accounts Services Automation (ASA) project was initiated 9 months ago to introduce a paperless processing system, using Fuji Xerox’s cutting-edge Documentum Imaging technology.

This project has been recognised by the Financial Insights Award as one of the most innovative uses of technology in Asia. CIMB Group competed against top-tier banks in Asia-Pacific for this prestigious award that attracted over 120 applicants in various categories.

Iswaraan Suppiah, Head of Group Information and Operations, CIMB Group, explained that the ASA project will greatly improve the Bank’s delivery of products and services to its customers. He said: “The ASA project aims to improve the Bank’s operational and process efficiencies in an economical way. It also provides a platform for us to undertake ‘regional hubbing’.”

By automating the account opening process, the average branch queue time has fallen by over 60%. The average cost of opening an account has also fallen by 40%, resulting in substantial cost savings. “Our branches have recorded significant growth in the number of new accounts since the phased implementation of the ASA project,” said Iswaraan. Further, the paperless processing system is environmentally-friendly and has reduced the need for physical storage space.

“Previously, much time and effort was spent on re-processing incomplete forms, causing delays to the customer and higher costs. This is less of an issue today, as the entire process from branch to back-end has been re-engineered and automated,” said Iswaraan. He added that the Bank has benefited from better controls and enhanced data quality.

Fuji Xerox’s document imaging system captures, classifies and indexes relevant images for easy storage and retrieval. Documents can be created, reviewed, approved, shared and re-used across CIMB Bank branches, and potentially across CIMB Group’s regional network.

“Over the last 9 months, Fuji Xerox and CIMB Group have raised each other’s understanding of and commitment towards a whole new standard of document processing. We are honoured that we were given the opportunity to demonstrate the breadth of our capabilities in architecture design, and technical and solution development, to the banking industry”, said Maria Wen, Vice President of Business Operations, Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. “It is truly exciting to work with one of the most dynamic universal banks in this region as their total document solutions partner,” she added.

About CIMB Group
CIMB Group is Malaysia’s second largest financial services provider and one of Southeast Asia’s leading universal banking groups. It offers consumer banking, investment banking, Islamic banking, asset management and insurance products and services. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, its key regional offices are located in Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.

CIMB Group operates its business through three main brand entities, CIMB Bank, CIMB Investment Bank and CIMB Islamic. CIMB Group is also the majority shareholder of PT Bank Niaga in Indonesia.

CIMB Group is owned by Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Bhd, which is listed on Bursa Malaysia with a market capitalisation of over US10 billion. The Group has over 24,000 employees located in 11 countries.

About Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific Pte Ltd
Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific Pte Ltd was incorporated in Malaysia in 1991 as part of the Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific regional group based in Singapore. It has had a strong presence in Malaysia since 1966, then known as Rank Xerox. Headquartered in Petaling Jaya, Fuji Xerox Malaysia also has branch offices in Penang, Ipoh, Malacca, Johor Bahru, Kuching & Kota Kinabalu.

From its inception in 1962, Fuji Xerox has identified the “world of documents” as its domain. Since then, the efforts undertaken by the company to excel in the area of harnessing the power of documents has gained much recognition and led to a strong top-of-the-mind brand recollection in the region and in Malaysia.

The company’s remarkable growth can be attributed to its customer focus and service capability. Fuji Xerox does not only sell products. It strives to help customers better utilise their knowledge as this is in line with its strategic mission statement to be the leader in the global document market, providing document solutions (hardware, software and services) that enhance business productivity and knowledge sharing.

The company’s research centres in Japan, US, Europe and Canada have produced world-class products and services that have put us at the forefront in almost every product segment served. Recognizing that documents are a fundamental building block of human understanding, Fuji Xerox not only explores how knowledge within documents can be utilized effectively, but defines new roles for documents in the digital universe.