SMEs focus of new bank centre

 BANK South Pacific has opened a new business centre in Port Moresby for its small and medium enterprise (SME) customers.

BSP said the SME business centre, located at the Waterfront Food World shopping mall, previously known as BSP Premium, was reprioritised as a dedicated branch to provide services such as account opening and lending for SMEs.

It said with more than 14,000 SMEs using its smart business account with direct access to the smart business loan, the bank was committed to helping with the growth of SMEs in PNG.

“Since 2013, BSP has provided in excess of K40 million in loans to this valuable group of bank customers,” the bank said.

“The smart business loan product was introduced as part of BSP’s strategy to empower the large number of SMEs in Papua New Guinea.

“The product has generated considerable interest around PNG and is gaining momentum with over 800 loans funded. 

“Despite the inherent risk associated with small business lending, BSP has developed a process and criteria that suits the capacity of small businesses.”

The smart business loan is accessible to registered SMEs that have traded for more than 12 months and use a business bank account.

BSP said the loan is aimed at SMEs that may experience difficulty in meeting certain commercial lending requirements such as providing financial statements, or contributing equity and loan collateral.