JOHOR BAHRU: Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) yesterday jointly launched Malaysia’s first online facility for making additional investments in ASB units.

According to their joint statement, with the facility, ASB investors can top up their ASB account online via Maybank2u.com, without the need to visit a Maybank branch or Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd’s (ASNB) office.

This new service was launched yesterday by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, after the official opening of the Malaysian Unit Trust week here yesterday.

Also present at the event were the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman, PNB chairman Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid, PNB president and group chief executive Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman, Maybank chairman Tan Sri Mohamed Basir Ahmad and president and CEO Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar.

A unique feature of the facility is that it accepts additional investments to third party ASB accounts, thus allowing family members or guardians to invest for their loved ones.

Ahmad Sarji said: “The digital generation is comfortable with using the Internet for all manner of transactions, so this step is timely in capturing the evolving needs of a new generation of Malaysians. We’re happy that Maybank is willing to work with us to achieve that goal.”

Mohamed Basir said the new service could reinforce Maybank’s leadership in online banking for which it commanded over 54.8% of market share today.

Abdul Wahid said its users had benefitted from Maybank2u.com, which offers an array of services, including payments to the largest number of payee corporations numbering 700, while business partners benefited from its large customer base of over 3.6 million Internet banking users.