KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 9): CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (KL:CIMB) has officially launched its CIMB OCTO Biz app, a digital business banking platform for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The launch, held at the Asean SME Economic Conference on Thursday, is part of the group’s digitalisation efforts to streamline banking services and improve financing access for businesses.

The group also introduced its revenue-based financing solution SME FlexiCash/-i, which allows repayments based on a percentage of business revenue rather than fixed month instalments.

“We see banking as a strategic enabler of growth, transformation and financial inclusion. Our focus is to equip businesses and communities with capabilities and insights necessary to navigate a dynamic economic environment,” said CIMB group chief executive officer Novan Amirudin.

CIMB said the OCTO Biz app integrates banking functions with business management tools such as real-time cash flow dashboards, FX and trade services and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven insights.

The platform enables business owners to manage finances in countries within the Asean region and conduct cross-border transactions under one platform.

Other features include the ability to track cash flow digitally and view up to 18 months of transaction history, compared with the typical 12-month view available through conventional banking channels, according to CIMB.

Meanwhile, the SME FlexiCash/-i financing provides SMEs with pre-qualified financing limits based on account and transaction data in the app, the bank said.

Lawrence Loh, co-chief executive officer of group commercial and transaction banking at CIMB, said the revenue-based loan would provide greater flexibility for firms with irregular income or seasonal cash flow.

Businesses with at least six months of banking history with CIMB are eligible and can receive a financing offer directly through the application, with the option to adjust the loan amount and tenure before accepting.

“This gives customers a lot of flexibility versus what they used to do in the past, the very traditional way of paying back every month. So this will give access to a lot of micro businesses in Malaysia,” said Loh.

“We need SMEs to elevate their processes so that they can plug in more seamlessly to the global supply chain and market themselves more successfully,” said Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said during his closing remarks.

CIMB said more than half of its SME clients have already onboarded OCTO Biz, with RM17 billion in transaction value recorded across seven million transactions in 2025. The app’s full suite of features is expected to be available by the end of the year.

CIMB also plans to make online account opening fully digital by the end of 2025 as part of its “Kita Bagi Jadi” campaign, removing the need for branch visits for sole proprietors and SMEs.

Following its rollout in Malaysia, CIMB plans to expand the app to Indonesia and Singapore by the first half of 2026, before introducing it to other Asean markets.

Also present at the launch event was Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Datuk Ewon Benedick along with CIMB group chairman Datuk Syed Zaid Albar.