Asiatrust eyes add’l P1B from cash mgm’t services

Publicly-listed Asiatrust Development Bank expects to generate additional business worth at least P1-billion this year from the introduction of a comprehensive cash management service (CMS) product for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

CMS will increase the efficiency and profitability of the bank’s SME client base, which accounts for more than 90 percent of its accounts.

Asiatrust Bank president and chief executive officer Dionisio C. Ong said that CMS would free the SMEs from cumbersome technical and accounting procedures and thus increase financial intermediation. "They can concentrate of their core business and thus increase efficiency and profitability," he added.

The bank will not only service the financial needs of SMEs, it will also offer products that can be customized on the specific needs of the Filipino entrepreneurs. That is in contrast with other financial institutions, which are limited to asset-backed lending programs for the Filipino entrepreneur, Ong said.

"Enabling services is another facet of SME lending where Asiatrust has stayed ahead of other banks," Ong said. "We provide relevant and enabling services in the form of business planning, financial planning and special training programs."

Meanwhile, Ong indicated that the bank would soon be launching mobile banking facilities with Megalink, which also operates its automated teller machine (ATMs). The process is already being tested and when operational will allow depositors to check balances through the mobile phones.

Asiatrust reported net earnings of P40.46 million in fiscal year 2003 (ending June 30 2003), or 13-percent higher than the previous year’s audited figure of P35.1 million. Total resources reached P10.75 billion while on the funding side, deposits remained strong, rising by 15.6 percent to P8.07 billion from the previous P6.98 billion.