OCBC NISP
Its popularity is revealed in its financials. In 2018, total income from SME banking in Indonesia rose 12%, while loan balances increased 20% to Rp18.8 trillion ($1.3 billion) from Rp15.7 trillion in 2017. Deposit balance jumped 32% while the current account balance grew 11%.
Consistency has been the bank’s mantra, given net interest income has grown around 20% each year since 2012.
Under Thomas Low, managing director in the retail banking department at OCBC NISP, the firm has set up a special division called EmB, or emerging business, focusing purely on SME lending.
The unit supports SMEs by providing working capital and secured commercial property loans of up to Rp25 billion. Last year, the bank beefed up its sales productivity by expanding the EmB sales network and cross-selling through other business segments.
OCBC NISP, in which Singapore’s OCBC holds an 85.1% stake, has also realized the importance of digital banking to appeal to SME customers. In September 2018, it set up a transformation team to digitalize banking offerings for customers and SME clients to help them reap the benefits of a digital economy.
To that end, OCBC NISP launched the ONe Mobile application, for instance, which allows individual business owners to see their business and personal cash flow in one platform.
The app seems to have hit the mark, proven by the 40% increase in transactions through ONe Mobile year on year in 2018, with fee income rising 46%.
OCBC NISP is moving in the right direction. It is investing in and using data analytics to better understand and serve SMEs, ensuring the success of its business model.