OREANDA-NEWS. August 16, 2011. In recent years, ICBC sets up a raft of special centers for serving small enterprises. The Bank adopts "Professional operation" in the delivery of financial services to small enterprises in an effort to allocate required monetary resources for small business loans, reported the press-centre of ICBC.

So far ICBC has set up more than 1200 small business centers, turning ICBC into a commercial bank in China having the highest number of small business centers, widest service area coverage. During the first six months of this year, a total of RMB 294.4 billion of loans has been extended to small enterprises through ICBC small business centers, accounting for 61% of total small business loans in ICBC. The total amount of small business loans outstanding reached RMB 377.3 billion, representing 64% of the total. The result fully demonstrated the advantage of dedicated ICBC services to small enterprises.

As early as in 2003, ICBC was the first bank in domestic financial institutions to separate "small enterprises" as an independent group of customers. Special credit outlay was allocated for lending more loans to small enterprises. In 2009, ICBC set up a special "Small Business Banking Department" in the Head Office to be responsible for the management and promotion of the financial services to small enterprises. With a network of "Small Business Banking Departments" in all tier-1 branches, 264 sub-branches and 953 sub-centers dedicated to serve small business segment. ICBC has covered all the major areas in the delivery of financial services to small enterprises and extended to the outlets at the low levels. This network of small business centers at all levels, in all areas paves the way for the growth of the business. Dedicated teams of customer managers are assigned to work in the small business centers. ICBC organizes programs to train up the staff who have to pass the examination and get the certificate before starting on the job. Over 30,000 staff have passed the certification examination as of today. A professional team was basically in place to provide loan services to small enterprises and ensure the continuous and healthy growth of the business.

The main reason behind the significant role played by small business centers in driving the business is the dedication of the centers to provide financial services to small enterprises. The independent operation, individual assessment and professional operation provide internal support to the services. In extending credit to small enterprises, ICBC designs special process and sets the criteria for new loans on account of the business management and working capital of small enterprises, backed by the Bank's strength of information, service channels and professional team. Small business loans have been approved in a more efficient manner. Meanwhile, ICBC develops products best-suited to the small enterprises. ICBC offers loans to small enterprises for their needs of funds "in a short time, in a frequent and quick fashion" and a variety of financial services backed by "Dedicated centers", "Professional teams", "Special products". As a result, ICBC small business centers comprise a platform for ICBC to deliver professional, all-functional, "one-stop" services to all the small enterprises.

An ICBC executive said, the set-up of small business centers plays an active role in adding convenience for small enterprises in the country to obtain bank loans and improvement of the financial services to them. It is also a move for ICBC to drive its sustainable growth. In the next step, ICBC will continue to follow the requirements of "Six Mechanisms" and "Four Independent Principles" laid down by the China Banking Regulatory Commission regarding financial services to small enterprises. In order to push ahead the delivery of financial services to small enterprises, efforts will be spent to consolidate the business resources and speed up product innovation according to their different stages of growth and demands of personalized financial services. The aim is to help them prosper and loom large under a more solid base.