[OR] [RHB] [E1] [C5] Identifying Critical Business Services

eBook 1: Chapter 5

Critical Business Services (CBS) of RHB Bank in an Operational Resilience Program

Introduction

In an operational resilience framework, Critical Business Services (CBS) are the essential services that an organisation delivers to its clients — directly or via third parties — the disruption of which could cause intolerable harm to clients or †risk to the stability and soundness of the financial system.

Identifying these services and protecting them against disruption is foundational to building resilient and sustainable banking operations.

For RHB Bank — a major ASEAN-focused banking and financial services group with a diversified portfolio of retail, commercial, corporate, and treasury products — the identification of CBS drives prioritisation of resilience planning, resource allocation, and recovery strategies, aligning with regulatory expectations and customer expectations for continuity of service.

Purpose of the Chapter

The purpose of this chapter is to establish a clear and practical understanding of Critical Business Services (CBS) within the context of RHB Bank’s operational resilience program.

As operational resilience shifts the focus from internal processes to the services that matter most to customers and the financial system, this chapter explains why identifying CBS is the first and most critical step in building a resilient banking organisation.

By framing resilience around customer-facing outcomes rather than organisational silos, the chapter helps readers appreciate the rationale for prioritising services whose disruption could result in intolerable harm, regulatory breaches, or systemic impact.

This chapter also aims to equip readers with the foundational knowledge and mindset required to progress to subsequent resilience activities, such as impact tolerance setting, dependency mapping, and scenario testing.

By the end of this chapter, the reader is expected to understand what constitutes a critical business service for RHB Bank, how CBS differs from traditional critical functions or systems, and why CBS identification drives decision-making across people, process, technology, and third-party resilience planning.

RHB Bank’s Core Business Landscape

RHB Bank operates a broad suite of financial services spanning multiple business lines and geographies. Its core services include:

• Retail and Consumer Banking: everyday banking services for individuals.

• Commercial and Corporate Banking: credit, financing, and business banking solutions.

• Treasury & Global Markets: liquidity, FX, markets, and institutional services.

• Transaction Banking and Trade Finance: cash management and trade-related financial services.

• Wealth Management and Capital Markets: investment products and securities services.

• International Banking Footprint: operations in Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Brunei.

These business lines are fully integrated into RHB’s service delivery model, providing the basis for identifying core and supporting services that are critical in the context of resilience planning.

Defining Critical Business Services for RHB

Following the operational resilience definition, RHB’s CBS are services that, if disrupted, would likely lead to significant harm—including potential client loss, reputational damage, regulatory breaches, financial loss, and systemic risk—and therefore must be prioritised for continuity planning and resilience controls.

Customer-Facing Service Channels

Deposit-Taking and Account Management

• Acceptance, processing, and maintenance of customer deposits.

• Balance reporting and reconciliation.

  Why critical: Fundamental for customer liquidity access and trust; disruptions directly affect customers’ ability to transact.

   

Payment and Fund Transfer Services

• Domestic and international payment processing.

• ATM and electronic payments (online/m-banking).

  Why critical: Interruptions can prevent payments, resulting in financial losses and regulatory scrutiny.

Loan and Credit Disbursement Services

• Personal loans, mortgages, SME financing. 

  Why critical: Directly influences customers’ financial planning and credit availability; critical for revenue continuity.

Institutional and Market-Facing Services

Treasury and Financial Markets Operations

• Liquidity management, FX dealing, and interbank settlements.

  Why critical: These services maintain financial flows and stability; disruption can affect market confidence.

Trade Finance and Cash Management

• Supply chain finance, trade guarantees, and working capital facilitation.

  Why critical: Essential for business clients’ operations and settlement flows; critical to local and regional commerce.

Wealth and Investment Services

• Client portfolio management, securities settlement.

  Why critical: Protects client investments and preserves market integrity.

Supporting and Control Services

Cybersecurity and Fraud Monitoring

• Real-time threat detection and response, fraud risk controls.

  Why critical: Protects the integrity of all banking services; breaches can severely disrupt operations and client trust.

Core Banking Technology Platforms

• Transaction processing systems, customer data repositories, and digital channels.

  Why critical: Underpins nearly all customer and market-facing services; systemic failure would halt essential operations.

Regulatory, Risk, and Compliance Reporting

• Operational risk oversight and regulatory compliance functions.

  Why critical: Ensures sound corporate governance; disruptions could lead to regulatory breaches and penalties.

Critical Business Services (CBS) for RHB Bank

Business Services Impact and Dependency Mapping

Once identified, RHB’s CBS must be mapped end-to-end, including:

• People: key teams and skillsets required to operate each service.

• Processes: workflows essential to service continuity.

• Technology: platforms and systems underpinning delivery.

• Third Parties: external vendors, clearing houses, and service providers. Impact tolerance thresholds, recovery time objectives (RTOs), and recovery point objectives (RPOs) are established based on these mappings to define acceptable disruption limits.

For RHB Bank, the identification and protection of critical business services form the backbone of its operational resilience program.

By clearly understanding which services are indispensable to customers and the financial system, RHB can invest appropriately in continuity planning, risk mitigation, and recovery capabilities, ensuring sustained service delivery through disruptions and strengthening overall institutional resilience. 

In conclusion, the identification of Critical Business Services provides RHB Bank with a customer-centric anchor for its operational resilience program.

Rather than attempting to make every process or system equally resilient, CBS enables the bank to focus resources and controls on the services that are most vital to customers, markets, and regulatory confidence.

This clarity supports consistent prioritisation, informed risk trade-offs, and stronger governance across the organisation.

With CBS clearly defined, RHB Bank is better positioned to advance to the next stages of operational resilience implementation—namely, setting impact tolerances, mapping end-to-end dependencies, and strengthening its capacity to prevent, respond to, and recover from severe yet plausible disruptions.

This chapter, therefore, serves as a critical bridge between understanding the organisation and executing a practical, outcome-driven operational resilience strategy.