Plantersbank aids SMEs in creating own websites

Aside from providing financial assistance to Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs), Planters Development Bank (PlantersBank) has expanded its services to help small businesses take advantage of the online marketing channel.

Through the bank’s subsidiary Plantersbank SME Solutions Inc., small and medium enterprises which has limited know-how on marketing their products and services on the web, will be able to enter the worldwide market by establishing their own website.

Plantersbank is now providing online marketing services, helping small companies develop their websites, with very affordable fee, or it can be offered as free service from the bank depending on the company’s account with Plantersbank.

“We are not only providing lending facilities to SMEs, but we are also helping them to market their products, by developing websites for them,” said Plantersbank SME Solutions Inc., president Adonis Yap.

Having a website is one of the primary requirements now-a -days for any business. Without it, a company may lose its competitive edge in both local and international markets.

In Cebu, Plantersbank had been able to develop a company website for small and medium businesses, like the Tinong’s Bakeshop, KIA Cebu, Ocean Jet, among others.

Developing a website for a company is part of the bank’s wide range of IT solutions services being offered handled by its SME business solutions arm.

According to Yap, providing enough capitalization via lending to SMEs is not enough, they (SMEs) have to be helped also in widening their market reach, and the most practical way is through creating a website.

For some small companies, creating a comprehensive website is an additional investment burden because of expensive charges by IT developers, or website developers who are commissioned to maintain and update the site constantly.

For Plantersbank, client companies, or even the non-clients could avail of an affordable website development service, with a wider option of the total business solutions offered by the bank.

Planters Development Bank SME Solutions Inc., the bank in partnership with the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Beyond banking, we seek to enable SMEs and raise their competitiveness through project finance and marketing support, among others,” said bank chairman Ambassador Jesus Tambunting in a statement.

Plantersbank is one of the three banks in the world recognized by the Harvard Business School Conference on Global Poverty for pursuit of a strong “double bottomline”—the successful combination of profitability and social development objectives like job creation and poverty alleviation.

For more than four decades, Plantersbank has been focusing its efforts on SME development, providing them with much-needed access to capital and equipping them with necessary tools to grow their businesses.