Banks to expand amid sound macroeconomy
Banks to expand amid sound macroeconomy
Some of Cambodia’s largest banks and financial institutions have announced plans to expand their businesses following solid macroeconomic performance so far this year.The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) in July projected that the Kingdom’s economy is poised to have grown 7.1 per cent this year.
Advanced Bank of Asia Limited (ABA) marketing head Igor Zimarev told The Post that the bank has seen very strong growth, with the number of customers increasing 76 per cent last year and by 72 per cent between January and early this month.
“To support that growth, we opened 15 branches in 2018 and 11 more this year, with several of them in Phnom Penh. This has led to an increase in bank deposits – within this year, our total deposits grew 50 per cent to $1.1 billion,” Zimarev said.
He said the number of cards issued by ABA has also dramatically increased. This year alone, the figure grew from 389,000 in January to 685,000 last month.
As of January 1, ABA operated 275 ATMs, he said, while that number currently stands at 357, with 50 more scheduled to be installed by the end the year.
“ABA has the second largest ATM network in the country, and it will only grow in time.
“What is more, we are constantly upgrading our machines, because of their natural amortisation and in order to bring in new machines with additional functionality for our customers.
“We will continue to do our best in serving our valued customers and will continue to increase our ATM network in the country,” Zimarev said.
Acleda Bank Plc president and group managing director In Channy also reported solid business growth this year and further expansion plans within the year.
Acleda currently operates a nationwide network of 262 branches and offices to serve its customers, he said.
The bank’s electronic infrastructure comprises more than 600 ATMs – making it the largest ATM network in the Kingdom – and more than 4,000 point-of-sale terminals across the country, plus online and mobile banking services, Channy said.
“The rich bank infrastructure stands ready when our customers are in need. In the fintech [financial technology] age, it’s about the transactions from customer to customer and company to company,” he said.
Prasac Microfinance Institution Ltd senior vice-president Say Sony reported that the institution has been
performing very well so far this year, which reflected the Kingdom’s overall solid economic performance.
“Business activities are running smoothly and the financial institution is overall running well thanks to the sound economic performance over the year,” Sony said, adding that Prasac currently operates 134 ATMs nationwide.
As of the second quarter of this year, there were 44 commercial banks, 15 specialised banks, 74 microfinance institutions, seven microfinance deposit-taking institutions, 254 rural credit operators, 15 leasing companies and 16 payment service providers operating in the Kingdom, a report from the NBC said.
