FINANCE publication Asiamoney recently awarded Security Bank as the country’s Best Bank for SMEs for its consistent support to the needs of small, medium and homegrown businesses.
Asiamoney commended the bank’s digital innovations, electronic cash management services, and products like the Business Express Loans – which reduces the turnaround time for a loan application from three weeks to a maximum of five days. Moreover, the SME loan does not require an application fee or collateral for loans up to Php 5 million.
“The bank’s small business loans portfolio grew by a remarkable 137% in 2018 and continued its strong momentum in the first quarter of 2019. Small business loans as a percentage of total consumer loans almost doubled from 5% in the first quarter of 2018 to 9% in the first quarter of 2019,” read the citation.
MSMEs still account for 99.56% of total establishments, according to The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). The sector group also contributed to almost 62.9% of total jobs generated and account for 25% of the country’s total exports revenue. Despite the growth of the MSME sector from 911,768 in 2016 to 924,721 in 2017, Security Bank still sees a growth potential that is yet to be tapped.
“The bank will continue to pursue initiatives and offer competitive loan products to cater to the expanding SME sector, driving economic growth,” said Security Bank President & CEO Sanjiv Vohra.
Some of the initiatives that the bank pursued were partnerships with franchise associations and trade unions to educate and deliver sound business solutions to members and franchisees.
“Security Bank is a solid niche bank,” added the citation, quoting a senior research analyst in Manila. “They are extremely good at what they do and they have decided to grow in the consumer and SME space.”
“Empowering businesses, especially SMEs is our bank’s mission,” said Vohra. He acknowledged that it was Security Bank’s BetterBanking vision that led them to pursue the initiatives, products, and services that garnered the bank’s international recognition.
Security Bank was also recognized as the Best SME Bank in the Philippines by the Alpha Southeast Asia Award.
Moreover, Asiamoney and Euromoney also released the results of its 41st annual foreign exchange (FX) survey tagged as the most comprehensive annual study on FX markets. The survey ranked Security Bank as among the top 3 FX banks in the Philippines, beating the largest local banks. Security Bank credits this to its strong relationships with its clients. Anchored on its solutions-oriented sales force, the Bank hopes to continue being one of the most trusted banks for clients’ FX and hedging needs.