Koperasi Co-opbank Persatuan Malaysia Bhd will be rebranded with a new name — Co-opbank Pertama Malaysia — to enhance the image and management of the bank in the country.

Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin (picture) said the bank will be monitored by his ministry to ensure that it will become a renowned cooperative bank, comparable to Bank Rakyat.

He said the bank, which has 78,389 members and 603 cooperatives, would be appointed as the manager to manage the savings accounts of all the co- operatives nationwide.

“This is our strategy to help the cooperatives by depositing their savings in this bank, and the bank will assist by providing loans to the cooperatives to implement projects, and they will do this with the cooperation of Bank Rakyat,” he said.

He said this to reporters after officiating Co-opbank Persatuan’s 59th AGM and signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Cooperative Commission of Malaysia and the bank in Taiping yesterday.

Under the MoU, Bank Rakyat has been appointed as a mentor to Co-opbank Persatuan to help the latter towards strengthening its capacity and human capital in technical skills and education related to banking, especially in risk management.

Meanwhile, Co-opbank Persatuan chairman Kamari Zaman Juhari said the bank recorded profits of RM39.7 million in 2017, exceeding its target of RM28 million, compared to RM25.7 million in 2016.

“The bank’s share capital increased from RM344.6 million as of end-2016 to RM371.5 million in 2017,” he said. — Bernama