[This is a paid article with HSBC.]
You probably have seen Rentokil Initial Malaysia’s vans around the city centre before and would easily recognise it as a pest control business and hygiene service provider.
But what you probably don’t know is that Rentokil Initial Malaysia is the same pest control company that treated the soil around Petronas Twin Towers back in 1994. At the time, the landmark was still the tallest building in the world and Rentokil’s services kept it termite-free.
Rentokil Initial was founded in 1925 by Harold Maxwell-Lefroy, a professor of entomology (a study of insects) in the UK. It started operating in Malaysia since 1967 and grew into a regional hub for the Asia Pacific with a workforce of 1,400 employees.
The Money Challenges That Come With Growth
Traditionally, Rentokil Initial Malaysia had customers pay for its services via cash or cheque.
Because of this antique and manual payment process, the company struggled with collecting payments from the customers. Even after collecting payment, there are risks involved with cash fraud and basic human error.
Did You Know: Fraud can happen when malicious employees pocket the money themselves or when a customer files for a false refund, citing job not done or provide the business with a cheque that bounces.
As the business continued to grow exponentially, the issue of cash collection became more apparent as they tried to keep up with the increasing amount of payers from their different services.
To solve its problems, Rentokil Initial Malaysia created a new digital financial ecosystem with HSBC in 2017 to improve the company’s processes.
Banking Solutions To Keep Up And Avoid Mess Ups
With the help of HSBC’s Virtual Account, Rentokil Initial Malaysia was able to identify all their payers accurately without the hassle of matching them manually. This finance solution allowed the company to track all their business collections from different payment channels so there are minimal leakages.
HSBC’s Virtual Account has significantly reduced the turnaround time for their collection cycle too, and provided greater visibility of its overall cash position. With that, Rentokil Initial Malaysia has successfully streamlined its entire cash collection process across the different markets in the Asia Pacific.
“Speed is key. With digitalisation, we have converted a large part of our collections from cheque to virtual account solution by HSBC. Through this, it saves us a lot of time on closing. With that, our business collection is reduced from 4 days to only 1 day today.”
Soon Mei Fong, Finance Director of Rentokil Initial Malaysia
With most of its finance operations centralised in Malaysia, Rentokil Initial Malaysia can utilise HSBCnet, HSBC’s digital banking platform to approve payments to their suppliers within the Asia markets easily.
This is a simpler, effective and cost-saving solution for the company, as compared to having different approvals in multiple countries using different banks.
Going Contactless In The New Normal
With COVID-19 still present, many companies are looking to keep their buildings as safe as possible for employees and customers. So, Rentokil Initial Malaysia stepped up to the challenge and diversified to offer disinfection and surface cleaning services to both commercial and residential customers.
Given how contagious COVID-19 is, many people have started to opt for cashless payment, which is safer compared to physical cash.
Thus, the partnership between the company and HSBC continues in the realm of digital payments.
Utilising HSBC’s Mobile Collection, Rentokil Initial Malaysia’s customers can now make contactless payments via e-wallets or DuitNow QR. This is to ensure safety first for their customers as we embrace the new normal that practices good hygiene.
Rentokil Initial Malaysia’s story highlights the many benefits that digitalisation can bring to any regional or global hubs. HSBC’s digital solutions can also help your company improve business productivity and provide you with new ways to grow your business.
“We are proud to be Rentokil’s regional partner in its digital journey. With HSBC’s Receivable Management solution available across multiple locations, Rentokil can identify their payers accurately thereby improving operational efficiency for its regional hub in Malaysia. It also provides greater visibility of its overall cash position across the region. This partnership highlights how HSBC’s digital solutions can support in the digital transformation of regional and international companies.”
Vishal Karanwal, Country Head, International Subsidiary Banking, HSBC Malaysia
- Equip your business the right tools for expansion via HSBC here.
Featured Image Credit: Rentokil Initial Malaysia
