Beyond digital: How Alliance Bank is humanizing the future of finance
Dr. Aaron Sum, Group Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer at Alliance Bank, will take the stage as a keynote speaker at the Qorus Reinvent Forum Dubai on 19–20 November 2025. Ahead of the event, we caught up with him to discuss how the Malaysian bank is tackling today’s biggest challenges—and the bold transformations driving its success.
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Dr. Aaron Sum, Group Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer at Alliance Bank, will take the stage as a keynote speaker at the Qorus Reinvent Forum Dubai on 19–20 November 2025. Ahead of the event, we caught up with him to discuss how the Malaysian bank is tackling today’s biggest challenges—and the bold transformations driving its success.
Can you introduce yourself and also give a brief overview of Alliance Bank for those who may not be familiar with banks in the ASEAN region?
I'm Aaron Sum, Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer of Alliance Bank. I’m responsible for shaping and executing the Group's overall strategic and transformation plans, including strengthening the Group's brand positioning and forming strategic alliances to expand growth.
Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad is a mid-sized financial institution headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, offering a broad range of banking services including consumer, business, and Islamic banking. Alliance Bank has built a solid reputation for its focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and its commitment to digital innovation. The bank’s streamlined structure allows it to be nimble and responsive to customer needs, particularly in a fast-evolving financial landscape.
Our approach is grounded in simplicity, service, and sustainability, with a growing emphasis on digital-first solutions and inclusive banking. We aim to make a meaningful impact through thoughtful partnerships, customer-centric offerings, and a culture of continuous improvement.
Over the past three years, Alliance Bank has made remarkable strides under its Acceler8 transformation strategy, delivering record-breaking financial performance, and expanding its market presence across key segments.
For the financial year ended 31 March 2025 (FY2025), the Bank achieved an all-time high net profit after tax of RM750.7 million, marking a 31% increase from RM572.8 million three years ago in FY2022. Revenue hit RM2.3 billion, up 23% from RM1.87 billion three years ago, driven by strong growth in both net interest and non-interest income.
The Bank’s loan portfolio for FY2025 expanded to RM62.4 billion, a 12% increase year-on-year—more than double the industry average of 5.2%. Growth was broad-based across all segments: SME (10.6%), Commercial (15.8%), Corporate (8.4%), and Consumer (12.6%).
This sustained momentum reflects the disciplined execution of Acceler8’s eight growth pillars, which include SME expansion, digital innovation, and supporting business customers through their life cycle.
In a world dominated by digital channels, how do you humanize the customer experience, and what role should client advisors play?
In a world increasingly shaped by digital channels, humanizing the customer experience is more important than ever before for building trust, loyalty, and long-term relationships. While technology enables speed and convenience, customers still expect empathy, understanding, and meaningful engagement.
As a bank, we at Team Alliance believe in going beyond transactional efficiency to create experiences that reflect the customer’s life journey through personalized communication, intuitive digital design, and authentic storytelling that reinforces the bank’s purpose and values.
Client advisors are not just financial experts, but trusted relationship builders who interpret data with empathy, guide customers through complex decisions, and advocate for their needs within the bank.
At Alliance Bank, this commitment comes to life through our promise to be #TheBankForLife. Especially during key life moments—whether it’s buying a home, planning for retirement, or navigating financial uncertainty—our advisors offer more than just financial guidance; they provide depth, reassurance, and a human touch that truly matters.
By equipping them with the right tools, insights, and autonomy, we ensure that even in a digital-first environment, every customer feels seen, heard, and valued—because being The Bank for Life means being there when it counts most.
Everyone seems focused on AI these days. Could you share how Alliance Bank is using AI and highlight some of the innovative projects you have launched, whether for your clients or your staff?
At Alliance Bank, we view AI as one of several emerging technologies that can support our transformation journey. Under our Acceler8 2027 strategy, we’re focused on strengthening our foundations across people, products, and technology—creating the capacity to explore new ways of working and serving our customers well.
Towards the end of last year, we set up the Alliance Innovation Council (AIC) to accelerate innovation through targeted use cases. This internal team identifies and tests impactful use cases across the Bank in core areas such as credit, customer experience, operational efficiency, and regulatory compliance, leveraging new technologies such as AI, as well as data analytics.
The AIC’s focus is on “changing the bank”, rather than conventional upgrades and enhancements associated with “running the bank”. For example, we are exploring AI-powered tools to help speed up credit underwriting, by automating financial statement analysis—a typically time-consuming process if done manually. We are also piloting the use of AI to enhance our fraud detection capabilities during the onboarding of new clients.
Through this council, the respective departments can pitch their idea and business case to obtain “seed funding” from the council, in order to run quick pilots. If these pilots are successful, then additional funding would be granted to scale up the implementation. The council prioritizes initiatives based on their business value, ability to scale, and how effectively they prepare the Bank for the future. This disciplined and agile approach ensures our digital transformation journey is sustainable and built for long-term growth.
It’s not easy for an SME to be ESG-compliant. How do you help SMEs in their ESG transformation?
ESG-compliance is often perceived as complex and costly. The truth is, sustainability doesn’t always mean big, capital-heavy projects. At Alliance Bank, we advocate for SMEs to take the Kaizen approach of small, continuous improvements without necessarily incurring significant capital expenditures all the time.
We have a long-standing relationship with SMEs and we provide necessary support and innovative solutions through our 3As approach—Advocate, Advice and Answer. We want to ensure SMEs understand that being sustainable is not only a compliance requirement but rather an imperative to build resilience for their business growth.
Over the years, we’ve seen a growing shift, where more businesses are starting to realize that profitability and sustainability aren’t on opposite sides of the spectrum. In 2023, we did a survey alongside our strategic partners—UN Global Compact Malaysia Brunei (UNGCMYB), Monash University, and Zurich—and developed an ESG report titled Building A Better Future Together, which revealed that three out of five Malaysian SMEs believed embedding ESG practices in their business will create long-term value. Subsequently, in 2025 we did another research and produced the second where the results showed that 80% of SMEs are now aware of ESG and 60% are now adopting it, which is a significant increase.
Our strategy at Alliance Bank focuses on enabling SMEs to take practical, incremental steps toward ESG adoption, primarily through capacity building, where we provide ESG basic training and carbon calculation workshops to help SMEs understand key concepts. We have worked with leading developers in the country and the national O&G company where their suppliers were assessed, trained, and supported to improve their ESG maturity.
Many of these suppliers have progressed to secure financing for sustainability-related upgrades, demonstrating measurable outcomes from awareness to action. We provide sustainable financing solutions at preferential rates and terms such as Low Carbon Transition Facility (LCTF) and sustainability-linked lending products that provide the capital needed for their transition.
Through our strategic partnerships we provide advisory and practical tools that SMEs can use to build their sustainability roadmap and transition plans. One such example is our PROGRESS diagnostic tool developed in collaboration with UNGCMYB. Our proposition also includes a panel of trusted green solution providers whom SMEs can rely on for low carbon solutions such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, EV and others.
Sustainability is ultimately about creating value for businesses, communities, and the environment. Companies with strong ESG practices are becoming more attractive in global supply chains, especially in industries where sustainability is a must-have. It opens doors to new customers, new markets, and new opportunities. And when you develop sustainable, future-ready products, you don’t just stay relevant, you become a leader.
Over the past three years, Alliance Bank achieved more than RM15 billion in new sustainable banking business, ahead of plan by more than a year.
What is your vision for banking in 2030? Do you think banks are threatened by AI and “invisible banking”?
By 2030, we expect to see banking being integrated more naturally into everyday routines, offering experiences that feel seamless, intuitive, and quietly present.
But while AI and embedded finance will automate many transactional aspects, the human element will remain irreplaceable. The future lies in a hybrid model: one where digital intelligence handles speed and scale, and human advisors bring empathy, context, and trust.
Banks that thrive will be those that embrace AI not as a threat, but as an enabler. By empowering client advisors with smart tools and real-time insights, banks can ensure that even in a tech-driven world, customers still feel personally understood and supported. This is the essence of what we embrace as #TheBankForLife—being present, relevant, and deeply connected to customers across every stage of their journey.
Can you tell me more about the presentation you will be giving at the Qorus Reinvent Forum in Dubai?
At the Qorus Reinvent Forum in Dubai, we will share how Alliance Bank is enabling ESG adoption among Malaysian SMEs through a supply chain-led model.
We’ll be sharing how our Sustainability Impact Programme uses a structured 3As framework (Advocacy, Advice, and Answers) to guide SMEs from awareness to action. The session will highlight how we work with anchor corporates to influence their suppliers, helping them assess their climate maturity, make transition pledges, and access green financing with corresponding incentives.
We’ll also showcase a case study with a leading real-estate developer, where we supported their suppliers through ESG workshops, climate assessments, and financing, resulting in measurable improvements in ESG maturity and uptake of green solutions.
The core message is that ESG transformation for SMEs is possible when it’s practical, supported, and embedded in business ecosystems; and that banks can play a catalytic role by combining financing with advisory and partnerships.
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