26 NOV 2014
KUALA LUMPUR, 26 November 2014 - Brands evolve with changing market trends to sustain consumer relevance and business continuity. In moving with the times, Hong Leong Bank (HLB) has refreshed its digital brand, Hong Leong Connect, to reflect the innovative solutions which it offers by empowering customers with efficient reliable banking that is simple, fast and dynamic.
“The constant need to be connected to just about anything, everything and everyone has permeated the minds of people, making ours a generation that desires, if not expects, speed and efficiency. We believe that innovation not only fuels growth but is also the way forward in life,” said Mr Tan Kong Khoon, HLB’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer.
He added, “The Bank has reinvented Hong Leong Connect as a new regional digital banking platform for its core domestic market in Malaysia and in Asia, covering Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, Hong Kong and China. The refined digital banking strategy aims to gain traction in customer engagement through pioneering innovation and developing best-in-class scalable digital platforms.”
Hong Leong Connect provides personal digital banking services to HLB customers across multiple platforms and devices, from Online to Mobile and Tablet banking. One of Hong Leong Connect’s prominent features include PEx, an award winning mobile money transfer service that allows Connect app users to send money to anyone using their mobile phone numbers.
Recently, Hong Leong Connect released its latest banking application specially developed for tablet devices. It is fundamentally an extension of the existing Connect Mobile application, but with an enhanced high-definition interface, a more engaging navigation style, and additional transactional functions for open payment services. The device-binding security feature is applicable to both Connect Mobile and Tablet applications where the account login access is restricted to one user only for each electronic device, up to a maximum of five (5) devices. PEx is also available on Connect Tablet application for added convenience.
“We give importance to simplifying the complex into something available at our very own fingertips. It’s a better way of doing things – an instrument of infinite possibilities. This is what Connect is all about. Hong Leong Connect solidifies the link between tradition (efficient reliable banking), and innovation (simple, fast and always dynamic),” he concluded.
A card-less Withdrawal service is the newest innovation in enabling HLB customers and Connect users to withdraw cash from their current or savings accounts at any of HLB’s ATMs without using their ATM/Debit cards.
During the presentation of the refreshed Hong Leong Connect offerings, HLB’s Chief Operating Officer of Digital Innovation & Transactional Banking, Puan Raja Teh Maimunah said, “You may sometimes forget to bring your ATM card but you seldom forget your smartphone. At times when that’s (smartphone) all you have on you, you can still withdraw cash from the ATM by just accessing your Connect app. This is banking when we want it, how we want it. Hong Leong Connect transforms your smartphone into your ATM card.”
Apart from PEx and Card-less Withdrawal services, HLB has also launched PEx+, a retail payment service using smartphone technology that enables customers to pay for their retail purchases without the need for cash or card in Vietnam last month. The partnership between Hong Leong Bank Vietnam (HLBVN) and Parkson Vietnam enables Hong Leong Bank Vietnam (HLBVN) customers to pay for their purchases at Parkson by just using their smartphones. HLBVN customers are only required to tap on the PEx+ function on the Connect Mobile application home screen, input password and scan the merchant’s QR code at the cashier counter to make a purchase transaction.
To use PEx, PEx+ and card-less withdrawal services, HLB customers first need to download the Hong Leong Connect Mobile application on Apple iOS’ AppStore, Android’s Google Play, the BlackBerry World or Windows Phone stores. The Connect Tablet application is currently available only for the iOS (iPad) tablet, and is now available on the AppStore. It will be extended to other tablet operating systems in the near future.