OCBC Bank has a soft spot for the struggling entrepreneur.
It has pulled out all the stops in recent years to make it easier for the lone person struggling to start a business by assisting him in his dealings with the bank and helping him to get recognition for his achievements.
Among the most high profile of these moves is the bank's role as main sponsor for the Rotary-Asme (Association of Small and Medium Enterprises) Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
This is the sixth year the bank is sponsoring the award, which recognises entrepreneurs in Singapore who have demonstrated excellence in their businesses while contributing significantly to the economy and society.
Mr Sng Seow Wah (right), executive vice-president and head of enterprise banking at OCBC Bank, says: "The award is possibly the most successful award in Singapore that brings recognition to entrepreneurs.
"Having their names in the press and the visibility they get is a form of recognition that money cannot buy. It gives them a sense of how it has all been worth it."
Having worked closely with entrepreneurs since the 1930s, the bank has historically been closely linked with businesses.
Mr Sng says: "The common factor about these successful businesses is their passion and commitment. They are risking their own money and their passion is so infectious it rubs off on their employees. Entrepreneurs today are also more educated."
For the bank, recognising their potential and catering to the modern SME (small and medium enterprise) customer has been a windfall of sorts.
Says Mr Sng: "The SME sector is a high-growth sector, and it contributes significantly to the bank's earnings."
Acting on customers' feedback, the bank introduced several new initiatives that meet the changing needs of the SMEs.
"What they want can be distilled down to one thing," says Mr Sng. "Basically they just want a bank that is easier to do business with."
He adds that on top of functional needs, SME customers also have emotional needs that are met by good service.
"We also want to connect with our customers in an emotional way, rather than just giving them money," he says.
For example, in response to SME customers who want greater convenience when banking, OCBC Bank placed quick cheque deposit boxes at industrial parks and at Shell and Caltex petrol kiosks located in industrial and commercial areas, where there is a high density of SMEs.
When the bank noted that many SME customers use mobile phones, it introduced an eAlerts@ocbc service that sends SMS messages or e-mail alerts to inform them of funds to be topped up to prevent bounced cheques, or information on daily available account balances and incoming fund alerts. The service costs $20 a month.
What is more significant is the bank's Business Entrepreneur Account. It allows someone who has just set up a business to walk into the bank with his identity card or passport and walk out not just with an account but also a chequebook in hand, says Mr Sng.
The bank does away with the practice of getting a customer to produce multiple documents from government agencies. The documents are downloaded on the spot by the OCBC staff.
Another initiative is the Business Term Loan. It is a collateral-free product that offers SME customers a loan quantum of up to $200,000 through a simplified application process, and it allows fund disbursement within five working days.
Looking to the future, Mr Sng says the bank, which has an inventory of new initiatives to roll out, is working on 'trying to reach out to the customer'.
He says: "They should have a choice - be it through the Internet, SMS alerts, e-mail or other ways - of how they want to do business with us."
