Press Release   Tuesday August 24, 2010

CIMB invests in RM2.1b banking platform system

By DANNY YAP
danny@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Group, which is investing a total of RM2.1bil in a regional and integrated banking platform system known as 1Platform over the next five years, has started the first phase of its migration to the new banking system.

Group chief executive Datuk Seri Nazir Razak said 1Platform would be the foundation for a regional information technology and operations framework to unify CIMB Group and enable it to compete as a truly regional bank.

“The first phase to change its current banking system to 1Platform will involve an investment of RM1.1bil and is the largest component of the bank's regional operations transformation blueprint,” Nazir said after the agreement signing ceremony between the CIMB Group and four key technology partners Silverlake Axis, IDS Scheer, IBM Malaysia and Accenture Solutions yesterday.

The other four main components of the blueprint to 1Platform are financial reporting and management system, integrated human resource management system, all-new front-end sales management system and regional transaction banking system.

Silverlake Axis chairman Goh Peng Ooi (left), CIMB Group head of information and operations Iswaraan Suppiah (right) and Datuk Seri Nazir Razak at the signing ceremony.

On the contracts awarded, Nazir said the first phase amounted to RM1.1bil.

“Some have been awarded and some haven't been awarded. The award to our current partners roughly constitutes about 40% of the entire 1Platform project,” he said, adding that 1Platform was critical to the long-term development of the bank.

On the return on investment of implementing 1Platform and its benfits to CIMB's customers, Nazir said the net present value of the project alone would be worth RM2bil and there are huge benefits to the bank and customers in terms of synergy and efficiency.

“We are moving our focus from being product centric to customer centric and better margins resulting from greater operational efficiency will benefit our customers,” Nazir said.

He said the 1Platform would be implemented in stages, starting with Thailand, which would begin operations in 2012. Malaysia will start the following year and Singapore and then Indonesia before 2015.

“Thailand will be the first to be implemented with1Platform because our operations there are still small and exposure to risk less,” Nazir said.

He said due to the scale and magnitude of the project, the implementation of 1Platform had to be done on a country-by-country basis.

On CIMB's listing on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, Nazir said the group was still ironing out some details, in particular the different tax treatments for investors between Malaysia and Thailand .

“We hope to get listed by year-end and as for Indonesia, we stand ready to apply but at the moment the rules are being looked at,” he said.