uab Bank

uab BANK

2 | APAC Outlook issue 50

FINANCE

The Best of Banking We spoke to Chris Loh, CEO of uab Bank, about the company’s place within Myanmar’s finance sector Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Vivek Valmiki

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ordering China and a close neighbour of India, Myanmar is set between two giants of global industry.

Previously known as Burma, the country is renowned for its jungles, unique culture, and ancient temples that mark a rich history. Yet in contrast to this, Myanmar is also a hub of increasing development, both on the technological and financial front.

Myanmar’s uab Bank is a fully-fledged universal banking group, and one of the four banks that have an investment banking license. With a whole spectrum of services, uab Bank is one of the top financial entities in the nation and continues to serve its customers with outstanding and innovative methods necessary in the rapidly evolving digital age.

“We have been around for 11 years, and we were established as part of the four licenses given in 2010,” Chris Loh, CEO of uab Bank, states proudly.

“We have a clientele base of about just over half a million, and approximately 2,000 employees covering 78 countries including 17 locations across Myanmar at present.”

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uab BANK AN ALTERNATIVE PATH Loh has worked in the finance sector for over 20 years, however, hadn’t initially planned to enter the space.

Prior to his choice to go to university, Loh fluctuated between many jobs, including selling street food, working at bakeries, and fast-food services. At university, he undertook an engineering degree that engaged his interests and involved a six-month internship as part of the course’s requirements.

He found himself joining consulting firm Accenture (known prior to this as Anderson Consulting) during this six-month period – an experience that spurred him towards the position he holds today.

“It was those six months at Anderson Consulting that really piqued my interest in banking, and ever since that, and after I graduated from university, I spent the next 13

years at the firm purely carrying out banking-related projects,” Loh explains to us.

“I ended up running the entire Accenture management practice across Southeast Asia. We were among the first to be responsible for consulting and support experience with deposit to adoption and transition.”

Following this, Loh left Singapore and spent two years working for Barclays based in London, where he was a Chief Functional Architect, also spending much of his time in various locations around the world, including Indonesia, Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Malaysia before ending up joining RHB Group. Here, Loh held multiple positions, such as Chief of Strategy, and afterwards the Head of International Business. Now he sits as CEO of uab Bank.

AT A GLANCE: uab BANK uab Bank is a leading bank in Myanmar. Recognised for its successful transformation and leadership in the Myanmar banking sector amidst the regulatory changes and governance requirements, uab Bank was named ‘Myanmar’s Best Bank’ by Euromoney, ‘Best Bank for Corporate Governance Myanmar’ by Global Banking & Finance, ‘Mid-sized Domestic Retail Bank of the Year’ by Asian Banking & Finance and was ranked first in Corporate Governance Disclosure by Pwint Thit Sa (TiME) Report published by the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business.

Established in 2010, uab Bank are now serving our customers from a growing network of over 78 branches in 47 townships across Myanmar. uab provides a wide range of financial services including consumer banking, premier banking, SME banking, corporate banking, trade finance and treasury services. Through its subsidiary uab securities, it also provides brokerage services, corporate and financial advisory, investment banking and capital market activities.

At uab Bank, the company believes in leading the way towards a better Myanmar, humanising banking, connecting people, creating opportunities and changing lives. In December 2017, uab launched “Be The Change Myanmar” initiative that represents our commitment to driving change for a better Myanmar, specifically focusing on empowering women and children. uab believes in operating responsibly and remaining committed to the community.

Myanmar Golden Rock Myanmar Golden Rock prioritises people. Its guiding principle is that people matter and operates with a mission statement of “With us – You, Our Valued Customer Always Come First.”

Its products include office automations, banking and finance, photo finishing, building and facilities and water and hygiene.

Having been founded in 1995 as Accel International, it was rebranded in 2002 to its current name Myanmar Golden Rock International. The organisation strives to be a total solution provider in the business imaging, consumer information and imaging, banking, photo finishing and building and facilities industries through offering reliable products and providing premium after sales service to its customers.

In 1995, MGR was given the sole distributorship to represent Canon. This representation covers the entirety of Canon’s products such as Multifunction printing devices, facsimiles, scanners, ink jet and laser printers, cameras and calculators. Today, MGR is partnered with many international brands such as Oracle, Canon, Kodak and Thales to name a few.

For example, through its partnership with Oracle, MGR has been delivering unparalleled services integrated business value by providing hardware, software, implementation of systems, database, and configuration with 24/7 service management.

MGR is a long-standing ICT Partner with Myanma Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) providing strong implementation and operations support using cuttingedge software for Big Data, Analytics, Machine learning and information security solutions. By using advanced business intelligence capabilities to create a centralised data infrastructure, MGR has digitally transformed outdated legacy processes and systems within Myanma’s largest telecom operator.

The organisation strives to deliver quality across its portfolio of products and is continuously on the search for opportunities to strengthen and solidify its existing product lines.

mgr.com.mm

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With us – You, Our Valued Customer Always Come First.

How MGR can improve your Business?

• Set clearly defined & measurable customer objectives • End-to-end IT solution design and system integration for your digital transformation needs • Engineer and deliver on prioritized projects • Implement cost effective new technology computing and storage resources • Extend early gains by leveraging on new technologies in the areas of Advances Analytics and Machine Learning/ A.I • Develop and implement Self-Service Operation procedures and Self-Help Capailities • Build capabilities by providing on-ground support to upskill and train your people

Branches and Showrooms • Yangon: Head Office, Downtown & Thilawa • Mandalay • Naypyitaw • Taunggyi

enquiries@mgr.com.mm | mgr.com.mm

uab BANK uab Bank stands out from its national peers as a company that is continually advancing and developing its security, operations, and service, as it has done since its beginnings.

“We were the first company in Myanmar to adopt biometric authentication for office entry access control,” Loh informs us.

“This operates hand-in-hand with our installed AI software. The biometric authentication process not only prevents cases of fraud, but it also increases bank security in overall.”

Technological developments for bank accounts customer security are not the only innovations at work, however. The company utilises digital services to reduce in-person bank services.

Traditionally, in-person bank withdrawals have been the primary form of bank interaction for customers. But uab Bank has changed this. The continual development of digital banking services is paramount

for the company, especially over the course of 2020 due to the restrictions on social interaction.

COVID-19 has accelerated the growth of digitalisation for a variety of industries and services across the board.

COVID-19 COVID-19 impacted almost every industry worldwide, and as many have suffered as a result of pandemic restrictions slowing or completely halting their businesses. In order to financially survive, these companies have turned to governments and banks to support them during this challenging time. For uab Bank, customers came first, and it wasn’t long before the company offered a quality services to help these businesses stay afloat.

“We were the first in the market to offer monitoring to our customers when the first wave hit,” Loh informs us.

Wiseasy & ABC Fintech (Myanmar)

As close partners of United Amara Bank from concept creation to business practice, Wiseasy Group and ABC Fintech (Myanmar) use their cutting edge digital banking solutions and rich experience in merchant services to realise financial digitalisation and revolution of Myanmar market.

Wiseasy and ABC Fintech are both certified digital banking solutions providers whose expertise lie in cloud based financial software and hardware, scenario solutions, and merchant promotion agency services for various financial institutions.

By providing one-stop digital banking solutions that offer digital payment, acquiring, reconciliation, and SME solutions for businesses in their respective markets, Wiseasy and ABC Fintech aim to empower financial inclusion via the finest fintech globally. www.wiseasy.com www.abcfintechmm.com

Trustlink TrustLink Co.,Ltd. – one of the leading system integrator companies that provides the end-to-end solutions to domestic banks in Myanmar since the banking sector started booming.

Over 11 years, TrustLink has been supplying government organisations and financial institutions with ICT, security hardware and software, developing/implementing/providing banking system and services.

Our reputation is well known in government industry by providing seamless passport system, and in the financial industry for supplying World Number – 1 cash machines and turnkey solutions of the payment to banks.

TRUSTLINK – Bringing the best value, if not the highest, to your business.

T +95 - 1 - 378406 E info@trustlinkmm.com www.trustlinkmm.com

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FINANCE

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uab BANK ‘WE VALUE CREATIVITY THAT CONSTANTLY SEEKS PRACTICAL WAYS TO BRING IMPROVEMENTS, SOLVE PROBLEMS AND SIMPLIFY BANKING. WE LOOK TO INNOVATE AND REDEFINE BANKING IN MYANMAR, GENERATING NEW IDEAS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE MARKET AND OUR CUSTOMERS’

AT A GLANCE: PURPOSE, MISSION, AND VALUES OUR PURPOSE To lead the way towards a better Myanmar, humanising banking, connecting people, creating opportunities and changing lives.

OUR MISSION • We lead changes in financial services. We are an institution of strength built on sound principles and good governance.

• We deliver banking with a heart; we care for our people and communities we are in.

• We connect people and build relationships to foster a stronger community spirit.

• We create opportunities and a better future for our staffs and our customers.

• We are the change that will empower the communities around us, and together enrich the lives of those we touch.

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OUR VALUES • A desire to connect. We believe in the power of building strong and meaningful relationships, connecting with fellow uabians, our customers and the community we are in. We strive for success that is inclusive through teamwork and collaboration, valuing each other’s contribution and opinions.

• A passion to create. We value creativity that constantly seeks practical ways to bring improvements, solve problems and simplify banking.

We look to innovate and redefine banking in Myanmar, generating new ideas and opportunities for the market and our customers.

• The courage to lead change. We have the courage to lead change, recognising that change is disruptive yet necessary. We want people who will stand up to their ideas, look forward to the future and challenge the present. We believe in a performance driven culture, yet always having in mind the importance of integrity, stewardship and building a sustainable future for our people and our country.

FINANCE “For many covering various industries, such as hospitality, travel, and real-estate, uab Bank offered six months of a grace period for business payments, giving these companies breathing room during such a challenging time. We deferred these payments for the six-month period so that these businesses didn’t have to worry about trying to meet their obligations, and also increased our consultation advice for our customers who required that kind of support.

“This six-month period we have extended up to a 23-month period to aid individuals and companies further, and we have not reduced our company salary payments as we believe in maintaining full employee support and welfare.”

SAI SAI PAY This people-centric support is an aspect of business that uab Bank holds in high regard and focuses its operations around. It’s Sai Sai Pay App is one example of this.

Working alongside the famous Burmese celebrity Sai Sai Kham Leng, uab Bank launched Myanmar’s first celebrity app to help create a digital lifestyle ecosystem and support the local music and film industry in order to raise funds for COVID-19 and those who required support the most.

Sai Sai Pay gives customers free access to live-streaming, music services, e-commerce, online rewards, and even a fan club feature that gives individuals the chance to interact with local artists to support and chat to them.

Together with the launch of the app, “Sai Sai Birthday Show in Bedroom” that was live-streamed exclusively to app users only during April of 2020, Sai Sai’s fans were able to donate to the COVID-19 relief fund, to assist in relief work during the pandemic. A sum of 80.2 million Myanmar Kyat (MMK) was raised.

The company is also investing in establishing separate banks as hubs of activity for socialising, and now

“UAB BANK ARE CREATING A FLAGSHIP BANK THAT WE ARE PARTNERING WITH A RESTAURANT FROM SINGAPORE TO COMBINE SERVICES IN ONE SPACE” – CHRIS LOH, CEO, UAB BANK that COVID-19 vaccines are being rolled out worldwide, this becomes an exciting prospect. “uab Bank are creating a flagship bank that we are partnering with a restaurant from Singapore to combine services in one space,” Loh explains.

“It will be a location that you can go for food, or a drink and socialise, and the bank will be there for you.

In this way, the bank merges with an alternative service to form a social space that caters to many needs and creates a hub of activity for customers.” uab Bank’s quality services can be seen through its multiple awards in the finance sector. For two years running (2019 and 2020) the company has been awarded “Myanmar’s Best Bank” and was also

ranked 1st at the 2020 Pwint Thit Sa Report released by the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business.

This latter accolade being an annual initiative that reviews the corporate disclosure of companies in Myanmar and covers areas of corporate profile, corporate governance, sustainability management, and reporting – transparency being one of uab Bank’s key values.

uab BANK Tel: +95 1 470 7000 info@uab.com.mm www.uab.com.mm

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uab BANK uab Tower @ Times City, Kyun Taw Road, Kamayut Township, Yangon 11041, Myanmar Tel: +95 1 470 7000 info@uab.com.mm www.uab.com.mm

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