Regional small businesses refocusing banking needs<\/p>\n
Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Singapore<\/p>\n
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Southeast Asia are
\nrefocusing their banking needs beyond willingness to extend large
\namounts of credit, a market research firm's survey indicated on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
SMEs are also looking at whether a bank offers products and
\nservices designed specifically for SMEs, and whether it has an
\nextensive branch network and knowledgeable staff, according to
\nthe Kadence study published in The Business Times.<\/p>\n
Development of banking products and services is important to
\n47 percent of the SMEs queried in Malaysia and 74 percent in
\nThailand.<\/p>\n
Improvement in staff quality was overshadowed by the extension
\nof branch networks in these markets, the survey said.<\/p>\n
Nearly 74 percent of SMEs in Singapore who have noticed
\nimprovements in services said that these stemmed from banks
\nproviding a wider range.<\/p>\n
Less than one-third of those in the city-state, Thailand and
\nMalaysia cited better interest rates as a reason for believing
\nbanks have improved.<\/p>\n
\"Bank lending can be an expensive way of financing business,
\nand SMEs are probably looking at alternative methods such as
\nfunding the business through personal assets, venture capital,
\nand foreign partners,\" Piers Lee, Asia-Pacific director of
\nKadence, was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n
The results are good news for international banks trying to
\nbreak into the market, the survey report said, though SMEs still
\ntend to turn to local banks.<\/p>\n
The Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation is considered the
\n\"most improved\" in Singapore, while Maybank received the nod in
\nMalaysia and Bangkok Bank, Thailand's largest by assets, in that
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
Businesses established in the last five years were more likely
\nto say that banks had become more adept at catering to SMEs.<\/p>",
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