OCBC
OCBC wins the Asiamoney award for best bank for SMEs in Singapore yet again, reflecting its continuous and growing relevance in this segment, its ability to think outside the box in bringing appealing products and services to its clients, and for its unwavering commitment to its customers – no easy feat in a Covid-hit environment.
When speaking to Christie Chu, head of emerging business and commercial bank cash, one thing becomes clear very quickly: it is not the number of customers that OCBC has which is important, but the solutions and cross-selling opportunities that they bring to the bank.
That kind of all-round approach shows in the numbers. OCBC says that one in two SMEs in Singapore bank with the lender, and about 40% of newly incorporated SMEs opt for OCBC over other banks. The number of SME customers at the bank grew 3% in the 2021 financial year, while the number of medium-sized and established businesses grew 4%.
One of the key priorities for OCBC has been to make SMEs realize that they need to think beyond term loans, that they need to also think about trade facilities and commercial loans and meeting milestones they may have set.
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