KUALA LUMPUR: Co-opbank Pertama (CBP), which was first established 73 years ago as The Province Wellesley Co-operative Banking Union Limited, was originally a combination of village cooperatives representing the Malay community.
Utilising its experience and determination to uplift the economy of the Malay community, CBP, with the support of more than 90,000 Bumiputera members, developed to be one of the leading cooperative banks in the country with its total assets expected to reach RM10 billion in the second half of 2024.
The origin of its establishment is to help liberate the rice farmers from the “padi kunca” (middleman) loan problem that had oppressed and crippled their economy, starting from a meeting of a group of Malays who are mostly members of the village cooperation company in Kampung Pertama, Bukit Mertajam, Pulau Pinang.
From the original activity of buying and selling fertilisers to increasing agricultural yields, including providing loans to members to buy livestock, rent land, and redeem or buy land, CBP is now competing with other mainstream commercial banks offering savings, Ar-Rahnu and financial planning services.
Malay community’s trust
When interviewed by Bernama, CBP chief executive officer Khairil Anuar Mohammad Anuar said the ability to offer quality products and services as well as competitive profit rates are pillars of the Malay community’s trust in CBP, making it the main choice for obtaining banking products and expanding their investments.
This can be seen through the financial history of CBP which shows an increase every year despite facing several crises and the COVID-19 pandemic.
This achievement also enabled CBP to announce the highest dividend payment since its establishment in 1950 amounting to RM58.93 million last year.
In terms of finances, CBP continues to record better profits of RM103.4 million in 2022, RM86.2 million (2021), RM85.1 million (2020), RM73.9 million (2019) and RM52.7 million (2018).
Khairil Anuar said that while other institutions are facing difficulties in maintaining growth after the pandemic and facing the pressure of inflation and interest rates, the cooperative bank had successfully increased its total assets of RM3 billion to RM9 billion as of July this year.
“In less than two years, we have grown net RM3 billion, meaning we raised grossly about RM6 billion. So, we are moving quickly and we beat the industry’s average.
“With this recorded achievement, it clearly shows that CBP has succeeded in creating and breaking its own record,” said Khairil Anuar, who had been appointed to lead CBP in 2021.
Blueprint to evolve, digitisation
The process of keeping the growth trajectory on track in a time of intense competition and a challenging economic environment is not an easy one.
Thus, realising the need to evolve along with the growth of the banking industry, CBP is ready to maximise business expansion, including the financing segment, Ar Rahnu, and digitisation, as well as strengthen its infrastructure through improved system and employee efficiency.
For the financing business, the bank plans to look again at the agricultural sector in line with the government’s desire to strengthen Malaysia’s food security to increase the country’s production in an effort to reduce import dependency.
He said the cooperative sector has the potential to support the chain of the agricultural sector from upstream and downstream industries.
“We cannot rely on just a few key products, we need a variety of products. On top of that, our fee-based products are not strong enough yet,” he said.
CBP, which currently only offers savings account-i (SA) services, also plans to introduce current account (CA) services to complete its offer.
“With the digital era, the regulator is moving away from cheques, so to offer CA, we would need eCurrent Account (eCA), not the physical CA or cheque issuance,” he said.
To support its digitisation, the cooperative bank will be introducing mobile banking next year.
“We plan to start off with mobile banking. We cannot afford to not go into the digital business because the retail bank is masses, and it is the best platform to reach more customers,” said Khairil Anuar, adding that its Ar Rahnu unit, which currently has a portfolio of over RM350 million, will also be expanded.
CBP is also confident that it will be able to empower its human capital and streamline its infrastructure through the consolidation of its main operations in a soon-to-occupied 14-storey building in Kuala Lumpur.
The cooperative bank is supported by more than 800 employees and 30 branches throughout Malaysia. – BERNAMA
