Food
Malayan Banking Bhd is anticipating financing to the retail small and medium enterprise (SME) segment to jump 35% this year — compared with 27% last year — which will up the segment’s loan portfolio to RM16.8 billion by year end.
The growth is expected to be driven by business property-based loans, portfolio guarantee (PG), trade finance, commercial cards, micro credit and SME deposits, said Maybank’s community financial services (CFS) head in Malaysia, Datuk Hamirullah Boorhan, in a statement today.
This retail SME segment typically comprise businesses with turnover of RM25 million and below, and is a key component to the banking group’s CFS portfolio, said Hamirullah.
Some 61% of the segment’s financing last year comprised Islamic financing, with the remainder made up by conventional loans.
To support the segment’s growth, Maybank is raising its number of seminars under its ‘Building Capacity & Capability’ Programme, which is now in its 3rd year, to 15 seminars in 2017, compared with just eight seminars last year.
The programme is aimed at enabling retail SMEs to better understand the banking facilities available to them and how they can leverage on these services to grow their businesses, said Maybank.
“The half day sessions are jointly hosted by industry experts, as well as financial advisors from Maybank who provide insight into traditional banking products, as well as new opportunities available through online and digital platforms.
“Participants [will] also benefit from business insights and financial tips shared by renowned speakers, as well as joint business networking sessions with other SMEs and field experts,” the statement read.
“Given our wealth of experience in serving this segment, we are confident that we can help the retail SME segment run their businesses more effectively, manage their cash flows better and leverage new-age technology to take their businesses to the next level,” said Hamirullah.
This year, Maybank is roping in local market expert Aladdin Street.Com to share on the impact of e-commerce and globalisation, while Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia (CGC) will also be present to provide direct assistance to participants.
“With the wealth of opportunities expected from the implementation of the Digital Free Trade Zone, we want to ensure that local SMEs are sufficiently equipped with knowledge and resources to benefit from the expected boost in e-commerce growth in Malaysia,” said Hamirullah.
“Our BCC programme will cover 15 sub-urban locations nationwide over the next six months and reach out to more than 1,200 entrepreneurs,” he said.
“We will also include informative knowledge sharing sessions such as on the e-Commerce halal marketplace, M2uPay solution, access to CGC financing and portfolio guarantee, as well as marketing and branding tips,” he added.
