Mongolia

At the first hint of crisis, Mongolia usually reaches out to the IMF for financial help. Not this time. Ulaanbaatar reacted swiftly to the Covid pandemic. It is set to emerge from a tough time with its reputation and its finances enhanced.

Mongolia is an unusual country in many ways. It is vast with poor infrastructure. It has a tiny population, but its cities, particularly the capital, suffer from appalling air pollution. People with disabilities suffer most.

It has been a busy year for all lenders, but particularly for TransBank. It increased its share capital in the first nine months of 2020 by Tug22 billion, to Tug72 billion ($25 million): this boosted its capital adequacy ratio to 43.48% from 31.5%, and made it Mongolia’s second-highest capitalized lender. The increase brings it in line with central bank demands and improves not only its risk tolerance, but also its ability to deliver the right services to the right customers.

It will be fascinating to watch LendMN develop as the effects of Covid-19 lessen. Founder Anar Chinbaatar’s big idea was to build a digital payday lender that could approve and disburse a loan in minutes. When LendMN opened for business in 2017, issuing small, unsecured loans, that process generally took most traditional Mongolian lenders several days to do.

Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia’s long-planned merger with Ulaanbaatar City Bank (UCB), announced in June 2020, made good sense on many levels.

Khan Bank has a vice-like grip on this award, and for good reason. Its stranglehold on a vast but thinly populated market is all but complete: most parents open up an account at Khan when their child is still in the womb.

For too long, Mongolia has depended heavily on the resources sector, but banks such as TransBank are making an important push to lend to small and medium-sized enterprises.