KBank offers SMEs flexible loan package
Kasikornbank, the market leader in SME loans, has introduced a package with more flexible repayment conditions and interest rates as it foresees that small and medium-sized enterprises might suffer from economic impacts including the higher minimum wage,
Patchara Samalapa, executive vice president of KBank, said yesterday that some SMEs had not yet adjusted to the new Bt300 daily minimum wage, imposed in April in some provinces and set to go nationwide early next year.
“Some operators want to change the production process to machinery from labour but they don’t know how to use the machinery, while others say they don’t know if the high price of machines would be good value for their money compared with using labour,” he said.
The bank considers that flexible credit conditions should useful to SMEs, which generally have little bargaining power with financial houses.
KBank has relaxed loan conditions for its K SME Credit “Choose as You Wish” scheme by allowing customers to select various interest rates, various payment plans, and various repayment periods according to their needs. This flexibility would help small enterprises with annual sales revenue of no more than Bt50 million.
“We have to focus on this group because small enterprises are able to upgrade to medium-size operations when they are stronger,” he noted.
Each year, about 10-15 per cent of small enterprises upgrade to medium size, he said.
Of KBank’s Bt448-billion SME loan portfolio, small businesses account for between Bt160 billion and Bt170 billion.
The bank expects 2,000 small enterprises will borrow new loans totalling Bt5 billion under the “Choose as You Wish” plan.
