Bangkok--10 Jun--SCB
Affirming its top three ranking in SME business, Siam Commercial Bank is continuing its customer-centric approach to fulfill customer requirements and ready them for any challenges. During the second half of 2013, the Bank will focus on helping trade finance customers tackle foreign exchange risk while at the same time building a strong foundation for SMEs to achieve its target of being the 'Bank of Choice'. SCB expects that by year-end it will be able to increase new loans by more than 57 billion baht. To help promote its SME services, the Bank has introduced a new advertising presenter, Ramida Puangsiri, the owner of Boonsiri Frozen Products Co., Ltd.
Speaking about the success of SCB's SME service offering at a press conference held at the SCB Head Office, Siam Commercial Bank Executive Vice President Mrs. Wareemon Niyomthai said that, "As planned, SCB is now firmly in the top three ranking in SME business. This success is a result of the bank's focus on developing a full suite of products and solutions meeting the demands of our SME customers. The Bank is ready to stand by SME entrepreneurs to help them tackle any changes in the business landscape by offering practical financial solutions that can effectively respond to prevailing market situations, such as the devastating floods in 2011 or volatile markets that can impact them adversely.”
During the latter half of 2013, the Bank still foresees exchange rate volatility, which can expose import - export customer to risks. To help customers deal with that, one of the Bank's key strategies is to place a priority on trade finance customers that are directly affected by foreign exchange risks. While trade finance customers account for only 10% of the bank's rapidly expanding SME portfolio, they are key drivers in boosting economic growth. Recently, SCB assisted this group of customers in hedging their foreign exchange risk of more than 3 billion baht following the launch of SCB SME Forward Contract service early this year.
In order to deal with future economic uncertainty, the Bank has developed additional financial solutions for trade finance customers; SCB SME Trade, which provides credit lines of up to 120 million baht without any limit as to the type of collateral for SMEs that are expanding; unsecured SCB SME Forward Contracts with credit lines up to 100 million baht covering all currencies to mitigate exchange rate volatility; and SCB SME Total Solution services to help SMEs expand to their full extent with a credit line of up to 300 million baht covering all types of facilities.
“SCB expects that this group of customers will grow more than 20% by year-end 2013, with new loans of about 57 billion baht, or outstanding loans of 360-370 billion baht. We sincerely hope that our strategic plan to continuously strengthen our brand will propel SCB SME to becoming the Bank of Choice for SMEs when seeking a true financial partner for their business", Mrs. Wareemon concluded.
Photo Caption
Siam Commercial Bank Executive Vice President, Mrs. Wareemon Niyomthai , reaffirms SCB's top three position in the SME business with its strong commitment to continue its customer-centric business approach to meet customer requirements and help them withstand any change. During the latter half of 2013, the Bank will focus on supporting trade finance customers tackle foreign exchange risk, while building the strength of its SCB SME services to achieve its goal of becoming the Bank of Choice for customers. To help promote its SME services, the Bank has introduced a new advertising presenter, Ramida Puangsiri, the owner of Boonsiri Frozen Products Co., Ltd. ,