KBZ Bank yesterday opened a new one-stop services centre to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) secure better access to finance. The One-Stop SME Banking Centre (OSBC) offers a range of services to meet the needs of growing businesses, such as enhancing access to finance and improving financial literacy.
By launching the centre, Myanmar’s largest private bank seeks to facilitate the expansion of enterprises across industries, sectors and regions in the country. The centre will operate as an information hub as well, with a team of banking professionals who are well-placed to advise SMEs on managing their growth plans, cash-flow projection, financing issues and challenges. The OSBC will provide access to all KBZ core products and services, including: deposit, credit, cash management and transaction banking products. It will also offer consulting and matching.
The centre will be located at St John shopping mall in Yangon, near the headquarters of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI).
SMEs are particularly important to Myanmar’s developing economy which have big income discrepancies between the rich and the poor as well as gender inequalities. They are a major generator of jobs, innovation and savings investment for the country.
Daw Yi Yi Khaing, director of SMEs development department under the Ministry of Industry, said that SMEs are vital for female empowerment.
“SMEs are key employers of women of the SME retail sector in Myanmar. With focus on supporting female-led businesses, promoting gender equality and empowering women SMEs, we aim to extend financial products and expertise to those who wouldn’t previously had access to them,” she said.
U Zaw Lin Aung, managing director of KBZ Bank, explained that by supporting SME finance access, the bank is taking a step towards financial inclusion.
“To improve access to finance and build knowledge and capacity for SMEs, we are providing business centric tailored solutions and offering financial literacy training to our customers and their employees.
“Our relationship managers will offer advice and support for all SMEs – to grow from micro to small, small to medium – to facilitate growth and mitigate risk. This would offer financial inclusion for all businesses by allowing them to benefit from KBZ SME banking’s ‘total solution’ approach at the One-Stop SME Banking Centre,” he noted.
KBZ said that SMEs are also nurseries for businesses poised to grow into the larger firms of the future. They have the potential to scale up and grow into bigger companies in the region.
