Former Affin Bank group CEO and managing director Datuk Zulkiflee Abbas Abdul Hamid has been appointed Bank Rakyat’s managing director and president effective since yesterday.
Zulkiflee, who has also served on the board of directors of Maybank Islamic, held the role of group CEO and managing director of Affin Bank from 2009 to 2015.
On his plans for Bank Rakyat, Zulklifee said:“Give me a chance to explore what is available in Bank Rakyat. I might be able to provide a more comprehensive action plan after that as I have just begun my role as managing director and president of Bank Rakyat
“I have large shoes to fill, but it is not an impossible task. With the team that I have, I should be able to come up with something soon,” he said.
Zulkiflee has served on a number of industry committees, including as council member of the Association of Banks Malaysia as well as chairman of the audit committee of Malaysian Electronic Payment System or MEPS.
He holds a Master in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Marketing, both from Southern Illinois University, in the United States.
Zulkiflee has served as advisory council member of the Insaniah Global Centre for Islamic Banking and Finance, member of the board of trustees of Yayasan Budiman UiTM, as well as treasurer of Tabung Pendidikan 1 Bilion.
Bank Rakyat chairman Tan Sri Shukry Mohd Salleh said that the bank is looking forward to capitalising on Zulkiflee’s vast experience in the field of credit management, enterprise banking and corporate banking to grow the bank as an Islamic cooperative bank.
Meanwhile, Bank Rakyat chief retail banking officer Mohd Shahril Isa has clarified that Bank Rakyat’s memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) in February was only for the expansion of its remittance services.
“The MoU is for cooperation works, not a merger.
“We are not going to open a new business in Indonesia.
“Instead, we are only expanding our remittance services to Indonesia by using BRI as our platform as BRI has a large network covering all the islands there,” said Shahril.
Bank Rakyat’s remittance services in Indonesia will begin in the second or third quarter of the year.