Promoting support policies for small and medium enterprises at SeABank

In the context of the global economic recession, to support small and medium enterprises to maintain production and create jobs for workers, the Government and the State Bank of Vietnam have issued many credit policies to support businesses. SeABank is also implementing many programs and preferential loan packages to meet the needs of businesses. So what are these policies, the article below will provide specific information.

What is a small and medium enterprise?

Currently, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the type of enterprises that account for the largest proportion in our country's economy. According to Article 4 of the Law on Support for Small and Medium Enterprises 2017 (amended and supplemented in 2020), the criteria and characteristics of small and medium enterprises are determined as follows: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) include micro-enterprises, small enterprises and medium-sized enterprises, with an average number of employees participating in social insurance of no more than 200 people per year and meeting one of the following two criteria:

• Total capital not exceeding 100 billion VND.
• Total revenue of the previous year is not more than 300 billion VND.

Small and medium enterprises with total capital of no more than 100 billion

Some characteristics of small and medium enterprises are as follows:

• Regarding scale: SMEs often have small capital, few employees and low revenue, and low management and human resource quality when compared to large enterprises.
• Regarding the diversity in business lines: SMEs operate in many different fields such as: agriculture, forestry, fisheries; industry and construction; trade and services. The scale of SMEs also allows for re-selection of business lines, adapting to changes in the economy and market.
• Barriers to accessing loans: The starting point of SMEs is often limited capital, so to invest in expanding production and business, they need to borrow capital from outside. However, borrowing capital requires collateral, so the ability to access capital is limited.
• Ability to change and adapt to the market faster than large enterprises: SMEs are more flexible in starting a business, due to their small scale and compact business structure, so when businesses recognize changes in market demand and adjust their business direction, they will be faster and more responsive than large enterprises.

What SME support programs are available at SeABank?

Faced with the high demand for loans from SMEs, many banks have introduced policies and financial solution packages to meet the needs of these businesses. SeABank also has credit policies to support SMEs specifically as follows:

SeABank has many programs to support SMEs.

Investment capital from reputable international financial institutions.

On June 14, 2024, the Norwegian Government's investment fund for developing countries (Norfund) decided to invest 30 million USD in SeABank. Through this cooperation, it will help Vietnamese SMEs have more financial resources to meet their long-term capital needs.

Previously, SeABank continuously received capital from prestigious international financial organizations such as IFC, DFC... with a total scale of up to nearly 600 million USD. With capital sources sponsored and invested by large organizations in the world, SeABankcan confidently provide credit products to SMEs.

Credit policy

SeABank has designed specific loan products suitable for SMEs according to each industry group, with diverse forms of credit financing to have flexible solutions to meet customer requirements.

SeABank has a credit policy supporting many industries.

• Industry-Specific Credit Funding: Diverse financing in many business fields such as: Construction, Automobile Dealership, Construction Materials, Seafood, Pharmaceuticals and Medical Supplies, FMCG, Plastics Industry... For each credit product according to the business line, there will be credit conditions and separate policies suitable for the characteristics of that industry. SeABank always strives to research and propose tailor-made products for each industry and field, meeting the diverse needs of Customers.
• Financing under the credit facility: SMEs will have loan solutions that suit their needs and purposes, however, there will be some basic and popular loan forms as follows: Business overdraft, car loan, loan to supplement production and business capital in installments, refinancing... With each stage of business development, there will be different loan needs, SeABank's provision of many loan forms to suit each stage of development, each industry for each SME is a very flexible and necessary solution that every business desires.
• Chain Funding: SeABank builds supply chain financing solutions to promptly address businesses' working capital needs. Currently, SeABank has been accompanying and providing supply chain financing solutions to many large leading businesses: Honda, Thaco, BRG Retail, Central Retail, a number of FMCG businesses, etc.
• Commitment to arrange capital: Using capital arrangement commitment at SeABank helps businesses enhance their reputation with contractors.

Loan interest rates at SeABank are preferential and stable.

Loan procedures and interest rates.

• Lending interest rates: Short-term VND lending interest rates for SMEs at SeABank in April are only from 5.2%/year, medium and long-term 8%/year. This is an extremely preferential interest rate, in addition, import-export enterprises can borrow USD with interest rates from only 4%/year.
• The loan process at SeABank is simple, the loan procedures and information requirements are consistent with reality. The profile is consistent with the loan purpose, avoiding causing difficulties for SMEs.

Standardize the Information Technology system.

In addition to the above policies, the information technology system is also an important part in supporting SMEs. At SeABank, this process has been "standardized", businesses can use the ecosystem: SeANet, SeAMobile Biz... to provide cash flow management solutions for businesses, helping businesses improve their financial management capacity and save transaction time with SeABank.

Conclude

Above is a synchronous support solution for small and medium enterprises at SeABank. With the information we provide, we hope to solve some of the difficulties for SMEs. For more information, please refer toPlease contact SeABank at website or Hotline 1900.599.952 (KHDN) for further advice from SeABank.