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Microfinance
Microfinancing enables us to provide a viable and sustainable assistance
programme to lower income customers. The strong support by theMalaysian
government for microfinance was shown by the establishment of a RM200
millionMicro Enterprise Fund by Bank Negara Malaysia in 2008 with the
objective of increasing access to microfinancing for microenterprises with viable
businesses. The microfinance industry is expected to grow further with the global
microfinance industry posting growth of almost 20% in 2012.
To support the community and provide more business opportunities for them, microcredit ranging from RM1,000 — RM10,000, is offered with no collateral required to
purchase working capital at an affordable interest rate. This lending serves as a clear manifestation of Maybank’s aspiration to humanise financial services by catering to the
basic needs of the underbanked and unbanked segments of the society. First launched in December 2012, a total of RM1.18 million in microfinancing has been disbursed to
396 customers as at December 2013. Currently, there are nine branches offering this product. Moving forward in 2014, we are planning to offer more microfinancing products
in 21 other branches.
We continued our microfinance initiative in Indonesia with three project partners, reaching almost 3,000 women to date. BII, together with the Maybank Group, will provide
a revolving fund in the amount of Rp1 billion for members of Asosiasi Pendamping Perempuan Usaha Kecil (Association for Women with Micro Businesses) through 29
Lembaga Keuangan Perempuan (Cooperative for Women with Micro Businesses) spread across five regions in Indonesia, namely Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and
Nusa Tenggara. Further details on our community microfinance can be seen on page 40.
SupportforWomenEntrepreneurs
A gendered approach to our business provides opportunities as women also function as important financial decision-makers in the family and increasingly hold leadership
positions in business.
Indonesia’s GDP of 6.2% (World Bank 2012) cannot be separated from the support of banking and financial services. However, it is important to note that access to financial
institutions is not equitable for the people of Indonesia, as only half of the population have access to formal financial services institutions and 40 million other people are
not touched by financial services. This is both a challenge and an opportunity for BII in the development of its operations for remote areas.
BII considers the female population as a key potential market. In the last several years, the needs of the female population for financial products and services have shown a
rapid and dynamic growth. In the Women’s Empowerment Programme through the Micro Financing Services, BII employees volunteered to teach basic accounting to enable
women enrolled in the microfinancing scheme to expand their business efficiently. At the same time, it allows them to understand the purpose of financial institutions and
how they can support their business development. This can be created through the Women Empowerment Programme.
In addition, women’s need for information and self-development has increased along with advances in telecommunications including the internet. BII expects that within
three years, 2,000 new entrepreneurs, who will be potential valuable customers to our SME Banking services. This can be created through the Women Empowerment
Programme. To further enhance support, BII launched the
a website dedicated to the development of SMEs with a particular focus on women
entrepreneurs through the provision of informative content that educates, motivates and inspires which in turn promotes social interaction and collaboration. The www.
sukmainspirasi.com is the first e-magazine in Indonesia dedicated to a female audience especially women entrepreneurs.
At Etiqa, there is also focus on women because women are not only making decisions for the family but are also becoming aware of their financial needs. Suri, for example, is a
comprehensive 4-in-1 protection plan that covers all health and savings needs. It provides benefits for death, total and permanent disability, critical illness and daily hospital cash
in the event of hospitalisation as well as guaranteed cashback upon maturity, if no claims are made. It pays an additional 50% of the sum insured if the illness is female cancer.
accesstofinance
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