Security Bank nurtures SME market

The Security Banking Corp. (Security Bank) will open four more lending centers for small and medium enterprises (SME) as it continues to expand its downstream and upstream market.

Its next targets are centers in northern and southern Luzon, the Western Visayas, and Central Mindanao. The bank already operates six SME lending centers located in Metro Manila (covering the entire Luzon island), Cebu, Bacolod, Davao and Zamboanga.

Hand-in-hand with its expansion in SME lending, is the aggressive introduction of its e-Collect program. e-Collect is a secure on-line, real time Internet-based settlement system used by the nationwide dealerships of our large customers to facilitate settlement of trade payables via electronic funds transfer (EFTs).

In late 2005, the volume of transaction under the e-Collect program was worth a mere P100 million from two initial enrolees. The following year, it balllooned to P6 billion with 80 enrolees.

In just three months into 2007, it recorded an average monthly volume of P1 billion from over 100 enrolees.

"The target for the year is P14 billion worth of volume of transactions," Grace May Siy, senior vice president for corporate relationships of Security Bank, said.

Siy said that it should also translate into a 20-percent income growth from corporate accounts, and a 20-percent growth in overall lending for the bank.

The key SME sector for Security Bank is the so-called "emerging large", or the SME segment classified as medium in size which has the potential of further growth.

"We want to be part of their growth through strong relationships not just the principal client, but also their suppliers, buyers, and general client" the bank officials said, adding that the relationships are improving by improving the supply chain through the program.

Through e-Collect and the bank’s cash management processes, the cost of doing business for the client is reduced, its efficencies increased, and and its potentials hightened.

And by reaching out to the client’s suppliers and buyers, it likewise extends the same benefits thereby creating a relationship in both the downstream and upstream process.

"We have expanded our scope not only to the SMEs but also the industries allied with their growth and development," Siy added.

e-Collect is one of the modules of the bank’s cash management delivery system, Security DigiBanker. DigiBanker is an on-line, real time corporate banking system which runs securely via the Internet. It features a versatile suite of cash management solutions specifically tailored for the domestic corporate market including SMEs.

Its cash management solutions span account and transaction information delivery, check payments management and outsourcing, electronic funds transfer, payroll, electronic filling and tax payment, and various collections services.

It has a parameterized work flow orientation that allows it to mimic how a prospective client company wants to execute their transactions in the system.

Recently, Security Bank received the Financial Insights Innovation Award given by Financial Insights, an IDC Company, which works with 100 financial institutions and key service providers in Asia for the financial sector. — TPT