Banks court regional SMEs while waiting on S'pore Inc

THE proposed bid for Wing Hang Bank by Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) prompts a closer look at the way the three homegrown lenders are gunning for small and medium-sized (SME) businesses on a regional level, especially as SMEs here are more preoccupied with cost than expansion.

Growth from the SME market in Asia is clear: bank revenue from SMEs in this region stood at about US$80 billion in 2010, and should more than double by 2015, showed a McKinsey study that was cited by DBS Group Holdings late last month.

DBS said in its annual report that growth in its treasury customer income last year was mainly driven by Hong Kong SMEs hedging their renminbi (RMB) requirements at favourable offshore rates.