Bankers serving SMEs to go back to school

THE finance industry has set up its first tertiary-education programme for bankers who serve small businesses.

United Overseas Bank, together with the Singapore Management University, has launched the UOB-SMU Banker's Executive Certificate programme, which is part of the bank's career-development programme for its employees. It will combine classroom-based study in credit and risk management, trade financing and regional regulatory frameworks with practical skills-training to equip bankers serving small and medium-sized enterprises with the skills and knowledge to meet the expansion demands of businesses with an annual turnover of S$20 million or less. The programme is designed to guide business-banking sales employees through the different stages of small-business banking, from on-boarding customers to risk management.

Victor Lee, managing director and group head of business banking in the UOB Group, said: "We expect a greater number of our small-business customers to expand overseas in the next three years, and as a result, their banking and business needs are changing.