Hong Leong Islamic Bank Enters New Era as "HLB Islamic", Charts New Course in Wealth Stewardship with 'Hayat' Proposition

With the refreshed brand identity and strengthened core proposition, HLB Islamic is empowering customers to view every financial decision through a Shariah-guided wealth lifecycle approach

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, March 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As a strategic move to refresh and strengthen its core vision, Hong Leong Islamic Bank ("HLB Islamic" or the "Bank") is transitioning to a refreshed consumer-facing brand identity, now known as HLB Islamic, and a strengthened core proposition that approaches financial services not as a series of siloed products and transactions, but as total wealth stewardship through a Shariah-principle-guided life-cycle approach known as Hayat @ HLB Islamic. This evolution is rooted in the Bank's new philosophy, 'Timeless Principles Guiding Tomorrow's Wealth', introduced during its 20th anniversary last December to signal a new chapter in wealth stewardship.

According to Kevin Lam, Group Managing Director & CEO of Hong Leong Bank ("HLB"), the transition to HLB Islamic is a deliberate step to scale the Shariah-compliant franchise into a primary growth engine for the Bank, while serving as a unified gateway for all financial needs within the broader Hong Leong Financial Group ("HLFG") ecosystem.

"Our transition to HLB Islamic is a deliberate step to foster deeper brand affinity with our diverse clientele and a clear declaration of our intent to scale our Shariah-compliant franchise into a primary engine of growth for HLB. By aligning our Islamic banking identity more closely with the core HLB brand, we are making our Shariah-compliant solutions more intuitive, accessible, and digitally integrated. Looking ahead, our goal is for HLB Islamic to be the preferred gateway for wealth stewardship in Malaysia, demonstrating that value-based solutions that are truly customer-centric can lead the market in both innovation and resonance," said Lam.

While the new branding signals a clear business evolution, Hayat @ HLB Islamic represents a fundamental paradigm shift in how the Bank and its customers perceive financial services. Moving away from the traditional view of products as isolated transactions, this approach integrates all offerings into a singular vision of wealth stewardship. Aligned with the vision of 'Timeless Principles Guiding Tomorrow's Wealth', Hayat @ HLB Islamic empowers customers to look beyond wealth as a standalone category and instead view their entire financial journey through the lens of wealth.

Hayat @ HLB Islamic integrates the Bank's comprehensive product suite into a single, cohesive journey, seamlessly aligned with the five pillars of Islamic Wealth Stewardship that supports the entire financial lifecycle, for all customers. The journey begins with Wealth Creation and Accumulation, focusing on generating purpose-driven wealth from the first paycheck and investing in Shariah-compliant assets. This foundation is secured by Wealth Protection to shield against uncertainty, and elevated by Wealth Purification, which promotes ethical stewardship through giving. Finally, Wealth Distribution moves beyond inheritance to help customers design legacies that pass down values alongside financial assets.

Dafinah Ahmed Hilmi, CEO of HLB Islamic, commented, "We understand that our customers entrust us with the fruits of their success and the security of their family's future. It is a responsibility that requires us to be incredibly thoughtful, and this realization is what led us to launch Hayat @ HLB Islamic. We believe that financial planning should be grounded in a long-term wealth stewardship mindset; by building our solutions around the various life stages of our customers, we ensure that this journey is simple, seamless, and intuitive."

"There is an inherent beauty in Islamic banking. Its principles offer a holistic and dignified view of wealth, connecting every financial decision with a balanced responsibility toward society. Grounded in Maqasid al-Shariah foundations, Hayat @ HLB Islamic integrates the full arc of a life journey, from a child's first savings to legacy planning, ensuring the path is not only profitable but purposeful. Our responsibility as a Bank is to bridge the gap between the theoretical and the practical, empowering our customers to approach financial management from a perspective of wealth stewardship and abundance, while remaining firmly rooted in Shariah principles," added Dafinah.

True to its commitment to empowering purposeful wealth stewardship, customers can now access Zakat, Sadaqah, and Waqf services directly through the HLB Connect app. By integrating these social Shariah obligations into the mobile interface, the Bank has removed the friction of navigating external platforms, allowing customers to fulfill their contributions seamlessly as part of their everyday banking routine.

To celebrate this new milestone, HLB Islamic is launching an exclusive promotion that invites customers to embark on their Hayat journey with the chance to visit their "Destinasi Impian" ("dream destination"). By engaging with eligible products across any of the five Hayat @ HLB Islamic pillars, customers can stand a chance to win travel prizes to Japan, China, and Vietnam.

For more information on the new brand identity and Hayat @ HLB Islamic, please visit the newly refreshed HLB Islamic website: www.hlbislamic.com.my/hayat

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Hong Leong Islamic Bank Enters New Era as "HLB Islamic", Charts New Course in Wealth Stewardship with 'Hayat' Proposition

HONG KONG, March 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- LiberNovo proudly announces that the LiberNovo Omni has been awarded the iF DESIGN AWARD 2026 in the Product Design – Beauty/Wellness category. The chair represents LiberNovo's breakthrough approach to Dynamic Ergonomics. The iF DESIGN AWARD is widely regarded as one of the most respected awards in international design and recognizes innovative, functional, and user-centric designs.

Revolutionizing Ergonomics

The LiberNovo Omni was designed to revolutionize how people sit during long work hours. Unlike other office chairs that force people into unnatural positions and postures, the LiberNovo Omni introduces a new category of seating, the Dynamic Ergonomic Chair.

The chair supports your body as you naturally move throughout the day, so you can always adjust your position freely and still receive continuous support.

The LiberNovo Omni solves one of the biggest problems facing today's work environment. As work has become more and more desk-based, people are spending more time than ever before sitting. Traditional office chairs are designed for stationary use and often don't accommodate body movement, leading to lower back discomfort and strain.

Technologies Behind the Award-Winning Design

At the core of the LiberNovo Omni's design is Dynamic Support, LiberNovo's adaptive support system that automatically adjusts to posture changes in real time. Instead of requiring users to manually readjust their chairs throughout the day, Dynamic Support continuously responds to body movement, helping maintain balance and ergonomic alignment without interruption.

The chair also features LiberNovo's Bionic FlexFit Backrest, an advanced ergonomic structure that contours to the natural curvature of the spine. Using multiple pivot points and adaptive panels, the backrest distributes pressure evenly across the back while allowing natural motion. This approach provides consistent support from the hips through the shoulders, creating a seating experience that adapts to the individual rather than forcing the individual to adapt to the chair.

The LiberNovo Omni also incorporates multiple recline modes, allowing users to shift naturally between focused work and more relaxed postures while maintaining continuous ergonomic support. For deeper recovery, the chair includes OmniStretch, a guided decompression feature that gently stretches the lower spine and helps relieve pressure accumulated during prolonged sitting.

Together, these technologies define a new approach to ergonomic seating built around movement, adaptability, and long-term physical support.

Design Philosophy

The development of the LiberNovo Omni focused on solving a longstanding challenge in chair design: balancing softness, structural support, and freedom of movement. Traditionally, improving one of these qualities has meant compromising another. The LiberNovo Omni was engineered to bring these elements together in a single system, combining comfort, stability, and natural mobility.

This approach reflects LiberNovo's broader philosophy: the tools we use every day should work with the human body rather than against it. In modern work environments, productivity should not come at the expense of long-term health.

Design Collaboration

The chair was developed by the LiberNovo design team in Shenzhen, China, in collaboration with Kairos Innovation, an industrial design firm based there. Together, the teams focused on creating an ergonomic system that maintains support across the wide range of positions people naturally adopt while working throughout the day.

About the iF DESIGN AWARD

Established in 1954, the iF DESIGN AWARD is an internationally recognized standard for measuring design quality. Entries are selected using strict evaluation criteria, including innovation, functionality, ergonomics, and overall design impact.

In 2026, over 10,000 entries from more than 60 countries were submitted for consideration for the iF DESIGN AWARD. All entries were evaluated by an independent group of international design professionals, making the iF DESIGN AWARD one of the most highly respected design awards available today.

Looking Ahead

Receiving the iF DESIGN AWARD is a significant milestone for LiberNovo, demonstrating the company's continued commitment to advancing ergonomic seating design.

The iF DESIGN AWARD highlights the increasing importance of designing workplace solutions that enable workers to be productive and support their long-term physical health and wellness.

As workspaces continue to evolve, LiberNovo believes seating should move away from static support systems toward more dynamic, human-centered designs.

The LiberNovo Omni embodies this vision by shifting ergonomic design away from static seating, creating a chair that adapts to the user rather than requiring the user to adapt to the chair.

About LiberNovo

LiberNovo is a design and technology company focused on advancing ergonomic innovation for modern work environments. Through a combination of advanced engineering and human-centered design, the company develops intelligent products that respond to the evolving ways people work and interact with their surroundings.

** This press release is distributed by PR Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **

LiberNovo Omni Wins iF DESIGN AWARD 2026 for Breakthrough Ergonomic Design