Hong Leong Bank
With 116 years on the local scene, Hong Leong Bank tends to walk away with awards for its innovative and steady business for small and medium-sized enterprises.
While the SME part of its business still stands out, this year HLB takes Asiamoney’s award for best digital bank for exploring new galaxies of potential client bases: in this case, the very young.
At the end of 2020, chief executive Domenic Fuda’s team unveiled HLB’s ‘Earth Hero’ initiative, which encourages children to be environmentally conscious. This unique ploy to encourage environmental literacy centres on HLB Pocket Connect, an interactive and personalised mobile platform. It also lets youngsters practice responsible money habits. Increasing financial literacy has long been an HLB passion.
As Fuda explains, the Covid-19 crisis and its socioeconomic fallout made HLB more cognizant than ever of the impact the bank can have in creating and sustaining vibrant ecosystems across communities. As such, it was important to him to be the first bank in Malaysia, and the region, to steer younger generations towards being environmentally and financially savvy.
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