CIMB hopes to maintain retail deposit growth

CIMB Group expects its local retail deposit growth this year to at least equal last year's forecast rate of 16.5 per cent. The expectation is fuelled partly by its series of deposit-drive campaigns.

CIMB Bank head of retail banking Peter England said the group expected its retail deposits growth for last year to be worth US$2.7 billion. The growth was higher than the market average of around 6 per cent in 2010.

Retail deposits, which came from CIMB Bank and CIMB Islamic, registered a growth of 10 per cent in 2009. Last year, the group's domestic retail deposits stood at US$13.5 billion.

“We are growing our presence in retail deposit and we intend to do this partly by focusing on our series of deposit-drive campaigns,” England said. “The group has been strong in housing loans and credit cards in the last few years and we want to do the same in retail deposits,'' he added.