OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Bhd has rolled out a solar panel financing plan for residential homes as part of green thrust to make sustainable practices accessible to consumers in the country.
OCBC Malaysia said residential homeowners may apply for either its solar panel financing plan or easy payment plan, paving the way for quicker access to the benefits that accrue from the move.
“Solar panels can save up to 85 per cent or even more in electricity bills after a one-time installation. The bank is offering those eligible the option to finance the entire amount required for the solar panels,” it said today.
Managing director and head of consumer financial services Anne Leh Geok Meng said the solar panel financing was part of the bank’s drive toward a holistic approach to environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices.
This includes making environmentally friendly installations more accessible to consumers.
“By providing products aligned to this posture we hope to create long-term value. We are working with our solar panel partners to promote a cleaner and more sustainable environment,” she said.
The financing plan comes at a time when global carbon footprints and greenhouse gas emissions remain uncomfortably high.
According to Leh, in 2019, the OCBC Group became the first Southeast Asian bank to stop financing new coal-fired plants.
She said the bank’s consumer-level effort here was aligned with the group-wide pledge to grow its sustainable finance portfolio to S$25 billion by 2025.
“As a group, OCBC has seen a significant increase in demand for sustainable financing in recent years due to greater awareness of and heightened efforts to combat climate change.
“The group has witnessed a strong demand for green and sustainability-linked loans in recent times and has made good progress in the financing of renewable energy projects, especially following the announcement in April 2019 that we would no longer finance new coal-fired power plants.”
She added that the bank’s overall sustainability goal for Malaysia was to grow more sustainably with a target of 15 per cent of its loans to be sustainability-related by 2025.
The bank is also increasing exposure for both its staff and customers to be better equipped in their understanding of sustainable financing and investments. – NST ONLINE
