Inspired by your needs: How empathy and product innovation drive bank's five-fold account growth

For Ms Doris Leong, a branch ambassador at CIMB Singapore, going the extra mile for the customer extends beyond the branch doors. She fondly remembers an elderly customer who became a familiar face at the bank’s branch.

“She was in her seventies and she would use her umbrella as a walking stick,” she recalls. “The floor was wet that day due to the rainy weather, so I thought I’d just bring her downstairs and escort her to her bus stop.”

Incidents like these illustrate a key challenge in modern banking: balancing efficiency with empathy. Ms Leong’s ability to strike this balance through exceptional customer care exemplifies why CIMB Singapore is recognised in Singapore's Best Customer Service 2024/2025 list, as surveyed by Statista and The Straits Times.

The bank’s long-running commitment to its EPICC values – enabling talent, passion, integrity and accountability, customer-centricity and collaboration – plays a big role in this achievement. The bank emphasises fostering this culture to inspire staff-wide commitment to customer service excellence.

“At CIMB, our EPICC values underpin our commitment to employees and customers,” says Mr Victor Lee, CEO of CIMB Singapore. 

“Customer-centricity is knowing what our customers need and want. This philosophy guides the way we work. Transformative projects that took place over the past years have improved our offerings in terms of value and simplicity in banking.” 

Leveraging technology is one of the ways to make it simple for retail customers to begin their journey with CIMB. Customers can easily apply for an account or any regular banking products and services digitally, making it faster and more convenient.

Commercial customers such as small and medium-sized enterprises can easily get started too. Today, the business account opening process takes only 15 minutes, and the required documents have been reduced from 13 to three.

Its efforts in combining digital innovation with customer care have borne fruit. The bank’s number of accounts opened in 2023 is five times that of 2022, and revenue grew 33 per cent.

For customers of CIMB Preferred – the bank's priority banking programme for affluent individuals – the consistency and dedication of having a long-serving relationship manager set the bank apart. 

“At CIMB, our highly-experienced team of wealth managers prioritises nurturing enduring relationships with our customers, built over years of trust,” Mr Lee says. 

Reflecting on this achievement, Mr Lee adds: “Winning the Best Customer Service award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team to be the better option when it comes to banking by focusing on value and simplicity. We are humbled that our efforts have not gone unnoticed.

“We would like to thank our customers for believing in us. They give us purpose to everything that we do and inspire us to deliver the best banking experience.”