SMEs advised: Bank online

SMALL and medium enterprises in Cebu are encouraged by banks to use online banking for cash management.

According to Metrobank Vice-President for Cash Management Division Chorie Candice Chan, online banking is one of the innovations adopted by banks to make access to accounts easier for clients.

“The banking services have evolved now into solution-based partnership. Banks now are not only within reach but also within grasp,” Chan said during yesterday’s forum on SME Financing and Cash Management by the Cebu Bankers Club (CBC), in partnership with the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

She said this innovative service allows a client to monitor in real time the movement of accounts, review transaction activity, and transfer funds between accounts, among others.

Online banking is also beneficial especially to the SMEs that have several branches or operations nationwide.

“Gone are the days where banks were merely for deposits or loans. It has now evolved, producing innovative services that cater the banking needs of small businesses whose operations extend up to the countryside,” she said.

Chan cited Metrobank’s Sweep Account service as an example of online banking that helps maximize cash flow management, particularly to those companies which have several branches.

Cash flow control

She said MetroBank will set up the Sweep Account parameters, according to the client’s specific requirements, to initiate repetitive automatic transfers and cash flow control, as well as funds disbursement.

Chan added the online banking also offers collection and payroll services, as well as Internet-based payment for online ordering, among others.

Also highlighted in her talk are the security measures banks have adopted to secure clients from any forms of internet fraud.

In a separate interview, Rey Calooy, president of Filipino-Cebuano Business Club Inc. (FCBI) lauded the efforts of banks to increase financial literacy among Cebuano SMEs.

He noted that access to finance is not the only major constraint on the growth of SMEs.

“Most of our SMEs don’t have enough background on financial management. They often develop cash-flow problems due to the lack of financial literacy,” Calooy said.

CBC past president Chito Cabaero, meanwhile, assured that they will continue to initiate programs that would enhance financial literacy in Cebu such as further education on credit, savings and banks’ latest technology.