News In Brief: June 21, 2021

KFC MALAYSIA is introducing its newest creation KFC Balinese Crunch that will be available starting tomorrow at all KFC stores nationwide. KFC is operated by QSR Brands (M) Holdings Bhd.

“Available for a limited time only, KFC Balinese Crunch will transport you to the paradisiacal Bali island with its tropically spicy and citrusy flavours infused into our signature Hot & Spicy fried chicken,” it said in a statement today. 

Starting from RM15.99, the KFC Balinese Crunch comes in three options which are the two-pieces combo; three-pieces combo and a box meal that comes with a Zinger Burger.

The newest addition can be ordered through www.KFC.com.my or the KFC Malaysia app by selecting KFC Delivery, Self Collect or Pandu Ambil. 

-- BERNAMA

SUMITOMO MITSUI BANKING CORPORATION MALAYSIA BHD (SMBCMY) has announced two appointments to its board of directors today. 

In a statement, the group said it has appointed Datuk Wan Mohd Fadzmi Che Wan Othman Fadzilah, 56, as chairman of SMBCMY effective May 15 replacing Tony Chin Kok Sang who has retired on May 14,

Meanwhile, Woo Chew Hong, 64, has been appointed independent non-executive director of SMBCMY effective May 15. 

“Woo is the chairman of the board nominations and remuneration committee and a member of the board risk management committee and board audit committee,” it said. 

-- BERNAMA

IGB BHD shareholders have approved the establishment of IGB Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) on April 28. 

The group said the establishment provides an opportunity to IGB shareholders to participate in IGB Commercial REIT directly through subscription of their entitlements to the restricted offer for sale (ROFS) units together with the corresponding distribution-in-specie (DIS) units.

“IGB shareholders who have subscribed will be entitled to receive three DIS units for every two ROFS units subscribed.

The shareholders may also partially subscribe or not subscribe to the ROFS units,” it said in a statement, today.  -- BERNAMA

AFFIN BANK BHD has won the Best SME Biz App - Malaysia 2021 award for its flagship digital tool, the SME Colony mobile application, at the International Finance Awards 2021.

President and group chief executive officer Datuk Wan Razly Abdullah Wan Ali said Affin Bank’s SME Colony mobile application was created as a bridge between the bank and multiple partners, including selected government agencies, to guide and work closely with SMEs and the start-up community. 

“As our aim is to nurture and support SMEs from the beginning of their business journey, we will continuously innovate to ensure that the banking and non-financial solutions that we provide are comprehensive, inclusive and engaging to suit the dynamics of the market,” he said in a statement.

The upgraded SME Colony version 3.0 includes a renewed facelift, enhanced functionality as well as manoeuvrability to improve user experience and engagement, with further plans to roll out new features and targeted propositions for niche segments in the near future. 

-- BERNAMA

YELLOW.AI, formerly known as Yellow Messenger has launched Voice AI bots on its platform, in addition to the existing channels of text automation like Website, WhatsApp, Facebook, Kakaotalk, Instagram, Line and more. 

In a statement today, the company said with the growing demand for hyper-automation and on-demand resolution by customers in Malaysia, adding Voice AI capabilities to its rich customer experience automation platform is a natural evolution to realising a vision of Total CX Automation.

Chief executive officer and co-founder Raghu Ravinutala said yellow.ai is dedicated to enabling human-like, engaging conversations with our conversational CX platform, which is the ultimate balance between human + AI capabilities. 

The company’s bots can natively converse naturally in 100+ languages across text and voice, such as Bahasa Malay, Bahasa Indonesia, Tagalog, Chinese, English, Tamil and more. 

-- BERNAMA