Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad wins two awards at the Asian Innovation Excellence Awards 2025

The Bank was recognised for its programme supporting SMEs and advancing ESG adoption.

Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad was recognised at the Asian Innovation Excellence Awards 2025, winning Malaysia Green Innovation of the Year - Financial Services and Malaysia Strategic Partnership Innovation of the Year - Financial Services.

The recognition highlights the Bank’s commitment to accelerating sustainable business practices and fostering meaningful stakeholder engagement through its flagship initiative, the Sustainability Impact Programme (SIP).

The SIP is a strategic initiative under the Bank’s Acceler8 (FY2023-FY2027) plan. Built around a structured 3A’s framework of Advocacy, Advice, and Answers, the programme enables small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices into their operations. It provides awareness-building platforms, capacity-building workshops, practical assessment tools, and green financing solutions that strengthen both competitiveness and profitability. SIP helps SMEs adopt sustainable practices in their business and in doing so enables them to be more resilient and competitive. 

As of FY2025, Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad has achieved RM14.4b in cumulative new sustainable banking business, on track for early achievement of the Bank’s RM15b target by FY2027. A new goal of RM17b by FY2028 has been set to ensure continued commitment to supporting low-carbon and transition initiatives of our clients. Additionally, via strategic partnerships and Memoranda of Understanding with InvestSarawak, Bursa Malaysia and the UN Global Compact Network Malaysia & Brunei (UNGCMYB), the Bank committed RM1b in sustainable financing for SMEs in Sarawak and companies in the supply chains of Public Listed Companies, respectively, close to half of which has currently been deployed. 

The SIP also introduced the PROGRESS climate assessment tool with UNGCMYB, generating more than 1,000 free climate reports for SMEs to assess readiness and build transition plans. The Bank also launched our industry ESG 2.0 report, which details the state of EEG adoption amongst SMEs in Malaysia, who reported a sixfold increase in ESG awareness. Adoption rates amongst SMEs rose from 28% to 60%, and in one corporate partnership, 70% of SME suppliers improved their climate maturity levels to at least intermediate based on the PROGRESS tool framework.

In line with national policies, Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad leveraged the Low Carbon Transition Facility by Bank Negara Malaysia to introduce financing schemes that support renewable energy, energy efficiency, green mobility, and waste management projects. These include collateral-free loans up to RM10m at preferential rates, as well as flexible financing tenure up to 10 years.

The Asian Innovation Excellence Awards honours companies that achieve measurable outcomes and address key challenges through innovation and operational improvement, recognising initiatives that drive meaningful progress across diverse industries in the region.

The Asian Innovation Excellence Awards is presented by Asian Business Review. To view the full list of winners, click here. For more information on the awards programme, you may contact Julie Anne Nuñez-Difuntorum at (+65) 3158 1386 ext 242 or at [email protected].