KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 (Bernama) -- Agrobank collaborates with IBM Malaysia to modernise its core banking system with the IBM Power-based system to better serve the Malaysian agriculture sector, Small Medium Entreprises (SMEs) and communities. IBM Power is specifically architected to match the enterprise’s most data-intensive workloads, delivering enterprise-class compute with a combination of availability, security, and the flexibility of hybrid cloud deployment - traditional on-premise, private cloud, and public cloud.
 
“The collaboration with IBM is timely. As a leader in agriculture financing and value- based intermediation (VBI) banking in Malaysia, Agrobank is embracing new technologies in its effort to stay ahead of the curve for agriculture financing and providing the best facilities for its customers,” said President/Chief Executive Officer, Tengku Ahmad Badli Shah Raja Hussin.
 
“The implementation of the new core banking system enables Agrobank to enhance its operations’ stability, security, resiliency and successfully reduce 50% of overall business processing time and management. As a result, the bank improved customer satisfaction in 192 locations across Malaysia.”
 
“Agrobank is a firm believer in how digital transformation yields greater productivity and operational efficiencies while elevating customer satisfaction. With the nation on the road to recovery following the devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the bank is fully committed to helping rebuild the Malaysian economy through various entrepreneurship initiatives,” he added.
 
Elaborating further, IBM Malaysia Managing Director and Technology Leader, Catherine Lian said, “IBM is delighted to support Agrobank to leverage the right technology solution to enhance its banking operations. IBM Power brings unprecedented speed to AI workloads from the most powerful supercomputers at the bank, while providing the security and agility needed to meet the industry’s strict regulatory requirements.”

IBM Malaysia has collaborated with its business partner, Silverlake Axis, to ensure smooth implementation, in line with Agrobank’s vision.
 
For decades, IBM has been fuelling the transformation of the financial services industry and has developed trusted relationships with 47 of the Fortune 50 companies and the 10 largest financial institutions in the world.
 
In Malaysia, IBM brings industry experience, a hybrid cloud approach and leadership in security and data privacy to help banks address compliance challenges alongside the need to modernise across all platforms - public and private clouds, and on-premise hardware - while transforming operations and offering new innovative services to customers.
 
ABOUT AGROBANK
 
Agrobank is a leader in agriculture financing and values-based banking based (VBI)* in Malaysia. Established in 1969, Agrobank is actively involved in charting the growth and development of Malaysia’s agriculture industry by offering shariah compliant products and solutions across various customer segments including micro, small, medium and large retail and business customers. Agrobank is a full-fledged Islamic bank since 1st July 2015.
 
As a market driven, customer centric DFI (Development Financial Institution) with a primary focus on strengthening the agriculture sector in Malaysia, Agrobank strikes an equal balance to its developmental and commercial roles to benefit the agriculture sector. Agrobank provides a comprehensive repertoire of financing solutions for the agriculture community; that includes upstream activities related to primary food and commodities-based agriculture activities to downstream activities such as processing, marketing and distribution of agricultural products.
 
Agrobank also offers retail banking financing solutions to improve the well-being of the agriculture community. This is done through its network of 206 touchpoints as of 2021 which include 139 branches, 32 kiosks, 19 commercial centers and 16 other touchpoints.
 
In 2019, Agrobank celebrated its golden jubilee Anniversary, as it marks 50 years of its proud establishment developing the agro industry.
 
www.agrobank.com.my

*VBI or value-based intermediation is an initiative by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) which aims to improve the products and services offered by Islamic financial institutions towards a better facilitation of entrepreneurship, community well-being, sustainable environment and economic growth, without compromising on shareholders’ returns

Issued by Corporate Communications Department, Agrobank

SOURCE: Bank Pertanian Malaysia Berhad (Agrobank)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Name: Shahreen Rahim
Section Head of Public Relations
Corporate Communications Department,Agrobank
Tel: 03-2731 1660 (ext 1660) / +6012-943 6217
Email: shahreen.rahim@agrobank.com.my
 
Name: Rasheffa Abdul Rashid
Executive, Public Relations
Corporate Communications Department, Agrobank
Tel: 03-2731 1660 (ext 1650) / +6019-272 9907 
Email: rasheffa@agrobank.com.my
 
About IBM
https://www.ibm.com/my-en
 
Media Contact:
Name: Trista Efendi
Communications, IBM Malaysia 
Email: trista.efendi@ibm.com

--BERNAMA