Just a decade ago, we are still running to bank branches and ATMs to complete our daily finance activities such as cheque deposit and fund transfer. Today, 73.1% of Malaysians are using internet banking and this prompted the banks to go one step further by introducing mobile banking apps.
CompareHero.my 2017 Mobile Banking Apps Awards
To date, 11 banks in Malaysia have their own mobile banking apps for its customers and they continue to bring new features and improvements in order to impress users like you and me. But just how happy are you with the mobile banking app you are using now? Features, layout, safety concerns and accessibility are important for a mobile banking app to serve a customer.
CompareHero.my has conducted its first Mobile Banking Apps Awards in Malaysia. Known as the CompareHero.my 2017 Mobile Banking Apps Awards, today we are happy to announce the winners.
CompareHero.my has reviewed all 11 mobile banking apps in Malaysia for the CompareHero.my 2017 Mobile Banking Apps Awards.
Read our review on each bank’s app here:
- Citibank MY
- Maybank
- AmOnline
- Standard Chartered Mobile Banking (Malaysia)
- Hong Leong Connect
- RHBNow
- HSBC Mobile Banking
- OCBC Malaysia Mobile Banking
- PB engage
- Bank Islam i-Info
Overall CIMB Bank Mobile Banking App Review
Overall position: 3 / 11
Overall Score: 3.5/5
| Score | |||||
| Bank Apps | Layout | Functionality | Security | User-Friendliness | Final Ranking |
| Citibank MY | 3.6 | 4.2 | 5 | 3.6 | 4.1 |
| Maybank | 4 | 3.8 | 4 | 3.5 | 3.8 |
| CIMB Clicks | 3.7 | 3.5 | 4 | 2.95 | 3.5 |
| Standard Chartered Mobile Banking (Malaysia) | 2.9 | 3 | 4 | 3.7 | 3.4 |
| Hong Leong Connect | 3.3 | 3.4 | 4 | 2.75 | 3.4 |
| RHBNow | 2.9 | 2.4 | 3 | 3.7 | 3 |
| Am Online | 2.9 | 2.4 | 3 | 2.7 | 3 |
| HSBC Mobile Banking | 2.8 | 2.6 | 3 | 3.2 | 2.9 |
| OCBC Malaysia Mobile Banking | 2.3 | 2.5 | 3 | 3.4 | 2.8 |
| PB Engage | 2 | 2.6 | 3 | 3.3 | 2.7 |
| Bank Islam i-Info | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1 | 3 | 1.9 |
Check out the summary below to know more about the app, read user reviews and our thoughts.
Overview of features:
- View quick balance
- View all account balances (savings, current, investment, loans)
- Pay credit cards and loans
- Pay bills
- Transfer money
- Prepaid reload
- Apply for fixed deposits
- View transactions detail up to 90 days.
CompareHero.my Review of CIMB Clicks:
1. Layout/Design (Score: 3.7/5)
- Improved interface and layout
- Relevant to CIMB’s branding
2. Functionality (Score: 3.5/5)
- Great arrangement of all functions available on the app
- Introduce more exclusive functions such as privileges, cashless withdrawal or mobile payment
3. Security (Score: 4/5)
- Provide biometric fingerprint login for all users
4. User-Experience (Score: 2.7/5)
- Smooth transition and simple layout to maximise user’s experience
User Reviews
Mohd Zaslan ★★★★
“I love the new UI and concept. But one major problem, when I try to transfer money interbank, it requests TAC number at the end. I have entered the 6 digit TAC but the app won’t let me proceed. I can’t even make a transfer now. Please review this asap.”
Jauhar Zahari ★★★★
“The new update is very neat. The problem of auto logs off to check tac SMS is solved. One suggestion if I may is to show transaction history. For now, I can only see transaction history in the browser but it's great if the app has it too.”
Billy Chaplin ★★★★★
“I love it! Compare to the previous versions, this new look is a much welcome change. And the feature to use your fingerprint for authentication? Genius! My only complaint is that it's pretty slow and kind of buggy but overall it's heading in the right direction. Keep up the good work.”
Beh Zi Xuan ★
“Very slow and it lags while trying to key in details and navigate between pages. Prefer the previous version.”
CIMB Clicks Overall Remarks:
CIMB’s new app came close to Maybank’s (which is ranked 2nd) in terms of design layout, simplified menu and easier navigation. However, it only offers fingerprint login to selected Samsung devices which is a bummer for many other Android users and for Apple users. We do hope the app developers will allow all users to use the biometric log-in feature before the rest beat them to it.
The Inbox feature within the app helps users keep track of all notifications and messages after each transaction in the message box.
Overall, we think the new CIMB Clicks Malaysia app is a big improvement from its older version in terms of features and concept, giving them the rightfully earned spot as 2nd runner up to the CompareHero.my 2017 Best Mobile Banking Award!
Scoring Methodology
Each app was ranked based on its layout, functionality, security and user-experience and received a score between 1-5 (with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest). These apps were scored based on:
- CompareHero.my aesthetical experts (for layout, functionality and security)
- Objective list of what constitutes a 1,2,3,4 and 5 rating (for layout, functionality and security)
- Writer’s evaluation (for layout, functionality and security)
- Apple and Android reviews (for user experience)
1. Layout and Design
A higher score of 4-5 meant the app had a simple yet effective design that added to its user’s experience. The app’s layout should also captivates user’s attention while not being too confusing at the same time.
A score of 3 is given to the apps that have adequate layout design. However, there are still some rooms for improvement such as updates for the latest user interface (UI) and perhaps more exciting colors or graphics.
Apps that received a score of 1-2 meant that the layout was not updated, or it was not on par with the other apps you see in store. Most of them required some updating in terms of color choice, fonts, menu layout and also visibility.
2. Functionality
A higher score of 4-5 was given to mobile banking apps that have more than 8 features and were one step ahead of the rest, such as exclusive promotions, in store payment, manage global accounts and card-less withdrawal at ATM machines.
A moderate score of 3 was given to mobile banking apps that have more than 5 features including balance check, fund transfer, bill payment, prepaid reload and credit card management.
A lower score of 1-2 was given to mobile banking apps that provided (or failed to provide) basic or average financing functions as mentioned above.
3. Security
We tested the security features based on a consumer’s perspective to determine the level of safety for a user while using the app.
We graded the apps based on:
- Security layers
- Biometric login availability
- Easiness to reset password and username
- Escalation of fraud or theft via the app
A high score of 4-5 was given to the apps that have incorporated biometric login system, provide adequate security action plans, and also fast responsiveness to resolve customers’ issue in fraud or identity theft.
A moderate score of 3 was given to the apps that have adequate security system and biometric login system. However, it may needs to up its game in terms of prevention and educational efforts.
A low score of 1-2 was given to those that do not have login system or insufficient security steps to ensure the safe usage of the apps by the users.
4. User-Friendliness
A high score of 3-5 was given to those that had earned high favourability from the users based on the apps’ transition, responsiveness, practicality and also banks’ efforts to resolve users’ issues.
A low score of 1-2 was given to the apps that did not meet the average users’ demand and was filled with technological bugs like malfunctions, errors, and bad transitions.
So far, we noticed that almost half of the banks have at least updated or replaced their mobile banking apps to a newer one in the past six months, with better features and functions for the consumers.
About CIMB Bank
As the fifth largest banking group in ASEAN, CIMB has around 39,000 staff in 15 countries across ASEAN, Asia and beyond. CIMB Investment Bank provides both conventional and Islamic financial advice for a tailored delivery of banking solutions to the public.
Find out the financial products offered by CIMB here:
CIMB also has an extensive retail banking network of over 900 branches serving more than 12 million customers. Beyond ASEAN, we also have presence in China & Hong Kong, India, Sri Lanka, Korea, the US and the UK.
Here are the brands that operate under CIMB Group:
- CIMB - Our leading regional corporate and investment banking franchise.
- CIMB Bank - Consumer and commercial banking in Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia.
- CIMB Niaga - Consumer and commercial banking in Indonesia.
- CIMB Thai - Consumer and commercial banking in Thailand.
- CIMB Islamic - Islamic products and services globally
Back to Blog 
