Maybank's relocation to the Financial Avenue @i-City is part of the group's efforts to improve its business continuity management (BCM) and resilience planning.
Mercu Maybank's premium corporate office design, security features, and Green Building Index certification aligned with the group's sustainability commitments, it said in a statement last Friday.
"With some 1,500 Maybankers relocating here soon, Maybank's occupancy in i-City will undoubtedly support and contribute to the further development and economic growth of the Shah Alam city, it added.
Tan Sri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa, chairman of Maybank, and Tan Sri Lim Kim Hong, founder and chairman of I-Berhad, officiated at the ceremony.
The New Straits Times (NST) was the first to report (in October 2021) that Maybank was relocating a portion of its operations to Mercu Maybank, where it would occupy 14 floors totaling 162,000 square feet.
Following the report, a spokesperson for Maybank told the NST that the decision to secure office space in Mercu Maybank was solely for BCM and resiliency planning to ensure that its operations and service delivery were not disrupted.
Mercu Maybank, according to the spokesperson, would serve as an additional permanent alternate office site for the banking group to accommodate new work arrangements resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, such as hybrid and remote work considerations for the group's various functions and businesses.
Meanwhile, Lim said this new milestone was especially significant to him given where i-City began and how it evolved.
"I envisioned i-City as an international business hub by day and a vibrant entertainment city at night. Designed by award-winning innovator Jon Jerde, i-City was built, bit by bit, based on the fundamental concept of 'Experience Makes Place'. I wanted technology to be intricately woven into the i-City DNA to offer the best experience to people living, working, and visiting i-City. At i-City, I intended to make people feel connected and empowered by technology.
"Today, Maybank is making i-City the better half of its headquarters is an honour to our forward-looking and human-centric philosophy from when i-City was just an idea. This is also a testament to i-City's standpoint as a flourishing finance avenue," he said on Twitter.
Lim added that Maybank's presence in i-City reaffirmed the smart city's ability to meet the needs of leading financial institutions in terms of technology and location.
"Even when it was a barren piece of land, I foresaw i-City's potential given that it was located strategically along the Federal Highway, 40 kilometres away from Kuala Lumpur. Now, our Grade A GBI tower equipped with artificial intelligence technology, dedicated internet access powered by a 400G high availability network, private cloud and Tier-3 data centre integrated into the tower stands tall between DoubleTree by Hilton hotel, serviced apartments and Central Mall shopping mall," Lim said.