Rafidah Binti Ariff started her banking career in 1994 after joining Kewangan Industri. In 1998, she was transferred to Bank Industri Johor Bahru Representative Office till 2005. When Bank Industri was rationalized and became SME Bank in 2005, she was in charge of Relationship Management.

In 2013, she was selected as a Specific Intervention Officer with the responsibility of providing advisory, guidance and mentoring to entrepreneurs. In 2014, she was fully certified as a Business Counselor by MASMED of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM).

With a BSc in Economics from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA and MBA in Finance from Nottingham Trent University, UK, her coaching and advisory role was further enhanced when she received certification from the Institute of Training and Development (ITD) in 2018 which certifies her as a Business Coach and Mentor. In addition, she was also a Certified Blue Ocean Coach for SME Bank by UCSI Blue Ocean Strategy Consulting.

As part of her expanded scope in export business coaching to SMEs, she was chosen to attend the Export Acceleration Mission to Riyadh and Jeddah, Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia from 25/02/2018-01/03/2018, to accompany SMEs to penetrate the Saudi market.

Shariffuddin Bin Hj Abdul Manap began his career in finance with Bank Industri (the former SME Bank). After many years, he has learned valuable aspects of the banking industry as he was attached to various departments such as finance, credit control, marketing and loan processing throughout his career there.

His coaching and advisory role started in 2015 when he was selected as a Specific Intervention Officer with the responsibility to provide advisory, guidance and mentoring to the Bank’s entrepreneurs.

Shariffuddin became a Certified Business Coach and Mentor in 2018 when he received certification from the Institute of Training and Development (ITD). He is also a Certified Blue Ocean Coach for SME Bank by UCSI Blue Ocean Strategy Consulting. Currently, he is actively engaging with entrepreneurs in providing advisory, guidance and mentoring to facilitate their business growth and help them achieve their business goals.

Wan Mohd Azahari bin Wan Aziz (Coach Azahari) has 17 years of experience in the banking Industry. He started his career with Southern Bank before joining SME Bank in 2006. His long exposure in the banking industry has helped to develop his expertise through various departments and divisions he was attached to especially related to business and entrepreneurship.

At SME Bank, he has been involved in Upward Migration and Business Development since 2014 and has demonstrated his ability as a mentor, counselor and coach to the entrepreneurs especially in Kota Bharu.

Coach Azahari holds a Bachelor of Business Administration majoring in Finance from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) and a Diploma in Accountancy from Kolej professional Mara (KPM).

He is a Certified Coach from ITD World under International Coach Federation. He is also a Certified Business Counsellor from MASMED UiTM and participated in 1Met Mentoring Programme organized by the Ministry of Finance in 2016 and 2017.

COACH SHAWN is Senior Business Coach for SME Bank and the Centre for Entrepreneur Development and Research (CEDAR). A Certified Professional Coach (CPC) and HRDF Certified Trainer with MBA in Entrepreneurship from Cardiff University and tertiary background in marketing, investment, applied finance and entrepreneurship, his career and competencies cover multiple spectrum of experiences in the areas of investment and portfolio management, business development, institutional building, economic sustainability programme, human resource and finance, corporate event & project management.

Among the significant mandate that was allocated into his portfolio is the development of a prominent economic development NGO, appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) from 2012 to 2014, he was instrumental in developing the overall institutional building and operational structure of the organisation to ensure strategic advocacy approach is stimulated to propagate the implementation of policies coherent and congruent with the aspiration to safeguard the national economic development and sustainability agenda.

During his current tenure, he has successfully upward migrated over 50 SMEs in the Growth, Turnover, Employment and Export category in various industries and sectors.

Muhizan is a Certified Business Coach from Masmed (UiTM) and a Certified Business Coach and Mentor from the Institute Of Training and Development (ITD).

He holds a Bachelor Degree (Hons.) in marketing and Diploma in banking from UiTM and has accumulated over 18 years of relevant experience in commercial banking operation with Southern Bank and CIMB Bank and developmental banking operation with SME Bank.

Throughout his working experience, he gained insights into various business cycles and customers’ industry segments and managed numerous types of mostly challenging clients. When he started his career with SME Bank in 2007, he was in charge of the Entrepreneur Premises Complex (EPC) in Ipoh where his core duty was to nurture EPC tenants until they could graduate from the Bank’s EPC scheme.

Along his career journey, he was exposed to various banking operations such as credit, supervision and credit control and gained knowledge in credit analytical skills such as qualitative and quantitative analysis, financing structuring and monitoring, recovery and rehabilitation as well as security documentation.

Sanimar Bin Zul is a Certified Business Coach from the Institute of Training and Development (ITD). He embarked on his entrepreneur development career at SME Corporation Malaysia, Sabah state office before joining SME Bank Kota Kinabalu branch in 2015.

His current portfolio includes facilitating and managing credit, grants-related programme and account management as well as providing business advisory services to SME Bank’s customers.

He has been with CEDAR of SME Bank for 2 years as a Business Coach and delivers training and coaching to the small and medium enterprises. Sanimar holds a Diploma in Banking from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Sabah and Bachelor of Business Administration (Hons) in Islamic Banking from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Segamat.

Mohd Ridzuan holds a Bachelor Degree in Finance and is equipped with valuable experience in the banking operations with more than 16 years of service with Bumiputra-Commerce Finance (Hire Purchase) and SME Bank.

Throughout his working experience (especially SME Bank), he has accumulated knowledge and understanding in a number of business types and industries (in relation to business operation cycles, modus operandi, financial condition, market segmentation, business transaction document, legal/license/certification requirement, to name a few). He has in-depth knowledge of financial statements and analysis, financial risk exposure and mitigation measures related to current business performances, conditions and trends.

As a Certified Business Coach, Mohd Ridzuan uses his accumulated knowledge in providing advisory, guidance and mentorship through business coaching and mentoring to the Bank’s clients.

Alifah Azhari graduated from University of Malaysia Kelantan with Bachelor of Entrepreneurship in Commerce (hons.). She began her career with SME Bank in 2012 after graduating by undergoing the SME Bank’s Graduate Training Programme (GTP). She was posted to SME Bank Kuantan branch and was in charge of Relationship Management.

In 2016, she transferred to the Kuala Terengganu branch to continue her role in Relationship Management. In 2017, she became an Intervention Officer.

Currently, she is a Certified Business Coach and actively serving SMEs under SME Bank by providing advisory, guidance and mentorship through business coaching and mentoring with the aim of uplifting the SMEs to new heights and further grow their businesses.

With more than 20 years of experience in banking, starting as Credit Evaluation officer, Ahmad’s exposure expanded into banking operations such as loan collection and restructuring & rescheduling of delinquent loans (rehabilitation and recovery). This is where he had the opportunities to handle and manage clients’ financing and business issues as well.

His entrepreneur development career began when he joined the Entrepreneur Development Department to focus on managing the SME Bank’s Graduate Entrepreneur Scheme. To enhance his business advisory knowledge, he attended the Training of Trainers SME Competitiveness Rating for Enhancement (SCORE) conducted by SME Corp. Malaysia in Mac 2010.

Having been certified as a Business Coach and Mentor by the Institute of Training and Development (ITD) Kuala Lumpur, Ahmad is now a Business Coach at SME Bank Seremban branch.

Hairadee Sirun embarked on a 19-year career in several industries and fields. His banking stint started at Citibank Berhad, initially involved in marketing before joining RHB International Trade Finance Centre doing trade operations. While the opportunities are plentiful for export-import businesses, the process of buying and selling internationally is not without its risks and complications. His experience and exposure is in facilitating and managing the trade finance transaction both for domestic and international as well as in advising and ensuring trade documents presented to the bank complied with the stipulated clauses within the agreement and international laws.

He then joined CITICORP Malaysia to work as a checker for export and import documents to ensure compliance with International Trade Law (UCP500/600 & ISBP) submitted by clients from ASEAN countries such as Australia, Japan, India, Thailand, Singapore, China and Indonesia. His role was in communicating the discrepancies quoted to the client’s bank accordingly.

His advisory career began with Amanahraya Berhad. His subject matter expert is in educating the society on matters pertaining to Estate Planning and Administration as well as Trust Account Management. He provides advisory on the best solution in personal succession plan and also business succession plan particularly in regard to the estate and wealth planning, estate administration and execution for the Muslim and non-Muslim.

He has now been with CEDAR and attached to the Entrepreneur Development Department for 4 years. He is a Certified Business Coach and delivers training and coaching to small and medium enterprises as well as students, particularly in the area of Entrepreneurship, Young Entrepreneur Programme (College/University Students), Business Planning and Business Modelling, Strategic Management and Financial Management.

Hairadee holds a BA in Management (Technology) from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and MBA in Islamic Finance from Open University Malaysia. He is a Certified Trainer with the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF). He is also a Certified Coach by ITD World under International Coach Federation.

Zaini bin Jasami has 27 years of experience in banking and nearly 10 years of experience in entrepreneur development. He is a Chartered Accountant by profession and a Certified HRDF Trainer and Certified Business Coach.

He is experienced in banking, namely commercial, corporate and retail credit and is hands-on in the areas of credit marketing, credit processing, credit evaluation, collection, recovery, litigation and rehabilitation. In the early stage of his career he was involved in the areas of finance and accounting, branch operations, branch compliance and management. He also had the experience in managing the credit and portfolio risk of a bank with involvement in the development of Credit Rating Model and the process of ERM implementation. He was involved in the process of development and implementation of a complete core banking system during the period from 2004 to 2005.

He has vast knowledge in managing entrepreneur development by becoming the trainer for the start-up and SME companies through the Best Exporter Programme, Vendor Development Programme, Young Entrepreneur Programme (YEP), Business Transformation Programme, Program Inkubator Usahawan Siswazah (PIUS) and Program Skim Pembangunan Usahawan Desa (SPED).

He was involved in the establishment of 68 ‘start up’ business under PIUS and YEP Programme. For the Vendor Development Programme, he was entrusted to provide training and business coaching for eleven (11) companies with annual turnover of RM330 million. Under the BEP Programme, he provided business coaching for eight (8) companies, whereby all the companies managed to achieve their targeted export sales in 2017. For 2017, he had recorded an achievement exceeding the targeted budget.

In 2018, Zaini was appointed as the Team Leader for the Region of Pahang, Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, Perak, Pulau Pinang dan Perlis for the entrepreneur development programme by SME Bank and managed to record achievements far exceeding targeted KPI for the region.

He is experienced in providing training and coaching for business entities with specialization in the areas of strategic management, financial management, sales and marketing, talent management, business plan and credit securing strategy.

In early 2019 he conducted the Credit Origination Process at the Citizen Entrepreneurship Development Agency (CEDA) in Botswana where he talked on the topic of credit. He was also entrusted to engage in the Export Acceleration Mission (EAM) for Saudi Arabia under the BEP Programme to strengthen Malaysia’s trade relations for twelve (12) Malaysian companies with Saudi companies whilst strengthening Malaysia’s presence in the markets.

Nurzilah Hashim has been with SME Bank for over 12 years and has held various roles in the Bank’s banking and operations. She has been involved in managing entrepreneurs’ business and financing issues and has gained understanding of entrepreneurs’ business requirements throughout the years. She capitalizes her knowledge in providing advisory, guidance and mentorship through business coaching and mentoring to the Bank’s clients.

Nurzilah Hashim holds a Business Administration Management degree (with Multimedia) from the Multimedia University (MMU). She is a Certified Business Coach and Mentor from the Institute of Training and Development (ITD) and a Certified Blue Ocean Coach for SME Bank by UCSI Blue Ocean Strategy Consulting. She is now attached to SME Bank Batu Pahat branch.

Coach Teoh is a Certified Professional Coach (Federation University of Australia) and a Certified Trainer (Human Resources Development Fund). With more than 15 years of experience in banking and other related industries, he now serves as a Business Coach for CEDAR and SME Bank.

Throughout his coaching career, he has worked alongside many entrepreneurs to upward migrate and create meaningful improvements for their businesses. He is especially passionate to work with young and aspiring entrepreneurs in areas of ideation and innovation. He has been a trainer cum mentor/coach for government-funded programmes such as Young Entrepreneur Programme (YEP), Program Inkubator Usahawan Siswazah (PIUS), Leaders Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programme (LEAP) and Business Transformation Programme (BTP). A strong advocate of the phrase “If it was easy, everyone would do it”.

Teoh holds a Professional Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing from The Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK and a Diploma in Law from HELP University. He is also a certified fitness trainer who believes that a healthy body and mind is essential in creating positive attitude and self-confidence.