CIMB Bank has opened its second branch in Singapore, located at the centre of the Orchard Road shopping belt.

The new branch, manned by 50 customer support and sales people, houses three ATMs, five general tellers, two private tellers, and ten meeting rooms. The entire office sits on 6,600 square feet of space and had cost nearly $2 million to set up. The branch's main clientele will be "general consumers who wish to bank with convenience while engaging in leisure activities in town."

"We've been forced to think more creatively on how to approach the market, which has resulted in us making offerings which are highly differentiated," Datuk Seri Nazir Razak, the chief executive of CIMB Group, said in a statement.

Razak also added that the success of the bank's retail franchise since its 2009 launch in the city-state prompted the opening of a fresh branch. Over the past 12 months, CIMB Bank Singapore has reported a 222 per cent rise in its deposits base, from S$590 million in September last year to S$1.9 billion in September this year. Its staff numbers have also grown by 60 per cent from 327 personnel to over 500.

"Looking ahead, CIMB Bank Singapore does not intend to stay still. We aim to continue challenging the status quo and bringing improved value propositions to our customers," Lye Mun, country head of CIMB Group Singapore and CEO of CIMB Bank Singapore, added.

The bank has also recently launched its Regional Preferred Banking service for priority banking clients, a demographic the company intends to focus on in the city-state.

"We expect this group of regional customers to grow to about 30 per cent of our customer base in Singapore. CIMB Preferred customers will not only be recognised as 'Preferred' in their home country, but also across CIMB's regional network," Razak noted.