KUALA LUMPUR, 28 October 2026 – Malaysia ranks second in Southeast Asia for banking customer experience and outperforms the regional average on every pillar, according to Twimbit's inaugural State of ASEAN Banking CX 2026, unveiled at the Twimbit Banking Summit & Awards 2026 in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia scores 3.93 out of 5, behind only Singapore (3.99) and ahead of the ASEAN average of 3.86. Service is its strongest pillar at 3.99, well ahead of the regional 3.80, followed by Brand (3.98) and Digital (3.94). Employee experience, at 3.85, is also above the regional average of 3.78 and is the market's clearest next opportunity.

The study finds that Malaysian banks offer full in-app journeys and strong biometric security, but only a few apply real-time AI, next-best-action prompts or dynamic personalisation at scale. Service moments decide outcomes: banks with round-the-clock contact centres, in-app live chat and empowered agents outperform those where onboarding friction, cooling-off periods or escalation delays persist.

“Malaysia is one of the region's real CX success stories, and service is what sets it apart. Malaysian banks are proving that a strong app and a strong human touch go together. The next step is to give frontline teams the tools and authority to resolve issues the first time, and to use AI to make every interaction more personal. That is how Malaysia closes the gap with the very best,” said Shivanu Shukla, Senior Vice President, Twimbit.

The study benchmarks 42 banks across six ASEAN markets on four pillars: Digital, Service, Brand and Employee experience. It underpins the Twimbit Banking Awards, where Malaysian winners included Maybank for Best Banking Experience and Most Inclusive Bank; CIMB for Best App Experience and Best Onboarding Experience; and GX Bank for Best Digital Bank.

About the study

The State of ASEAN Banking CX 2026 benchmarks 42 banks (26 traditional and 16 digital) across six markets on four pillars: Digital, Service, Brand and Employee experience. Twimbit analysts also assessed the banks across three customer journeys: digital savings account opening, money transfer and app experience. Public data, customer reviews and mystery shopping, where applicable, informed the scores. This is the first edition of the study, which will run every year.

About Twimbit

Twimbit is a research-led advisory and technology firm that helps businesses grow by understanding their customers and markets better than anyone else. Its advisory practice spans customer experience, go-to-market, growth transformation and due diligence, with deep expertise in telecoms and banking. Through knowledge-as-a-service, AI-powered platforms, and its summits, roundtables and awards, Twimbit puts that intelligence to work for leaders across Asia Pacific, the Middle East and the Americas. Headquartered in Singapore. www.twimbit.com