UOB Thailand
This January was quite a milestone for UOB. The Singaporean bank agreed to acquire Citi’s consumer banking business in several southeast Asian countries, including Thailand.
The objective was clear: deepening UOB’s commitment to southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, and reaping the rewards from the move. United Overseas Bank (Thai) Public Company takes the Asiamoney award this year for best bank for SMEs in Thailand.
UOB Thailand, under its president and chief executive Tan Choon Hin, put its relationship managers to work during the pandemic, helping more than 70,000 SMEs and individual customers of scale to overcome challenges. That included relaxation of repayment terms and conditions, extension of loan terms and allowing lower minimum payments for both secured and unsecured loans.
The leniency extended to retail customers and soft loans for business customers were all part of a debt moratorium programme totalling more than $4.6 billion.
Thailand’s political twists and turns have not dampened UOB’s enthusiasm for the local market. The bank entered Thailand in 1999 just as the Asian financial crisis was winding down.