It wants to help these affluent customers make their money work harder for them, so that better returns are generated from their investments.

The bank hopes to help them diversify their assets and give them more choice in terms of asset classes, according to a report in Hubbis.com

The affluent segment is said to be an under-penetrated and under-serviced segment.

“We think there is a lot of room for us to play more to our strengths and build these out over time to meet the needs of this segment,” Hubbis quoted U Chen Hock, RHB’s head of group retail banking as saying.

RHB defines “affluent” segment as that comprising individuals with a minimum assets under management of RM200,000, or those customers with a home property valued at more than RM1 million, or people with a monthly salary or income of at least RM20,000.

From the bank’s existing base of affluent customers, it knows that anyone who falls into one or more of these categories has a much broader range of financial needs that can be serviced.

“We therefore see a lot of opportunity to do more with them,” said U.

Foreign banks, the report said, have enjoyed a significantly higher penetration of products such as funds than their local counterparts, but RHB wants to change this.

“What RHB can also bring to the table is our regional expertise,” U was quoted as saying. This plays to the appetite of many of Malaysia’s wealthy and aspiring wealthy to diversify outside of the country.

“We have a regional asset management business out of Singapore, giving us access to more products than some of the domestic players in Malaysia, and we can help clients manage their cross-border investments,” he said, adding, “This is where we are trying to differentiate.”