Value context and insight. lkm@koreatimes.co.kr
JB Financial beefs up marketing in Cambodia
An outdoor billboard of Phnom Penh Commercial Bank in Siem Reap, Cambodia / Courtesy of JB Financial Group
By Lee Kyung-min
By Lee Kyung-min
JB Financial Group is seeking to strengthen marketing in Cambodia, home to Phnom Penh Commercial Bank (PPCBank), a highly lucrative subsidiary of Jeonbuk Bank, the group's bank subsidiary, the group said Tuesday.
The bank in the Southeast Asian country is fast-rising cash cow for the group, with its interest income having jumped to 19 billion won ($15.9 million) in the first six months of 2019, a 32.7 percent increase from a year earlier.
The interest income, surpassing the 10 billion won level for the first time since the group acquired the bank, was the top performance among Korean financial services firms with a business presence there.
The notable performance followed strong retail business there with localization of manpower, a strategy to hire 98 percent of bank officials at 19 branches from the country to enhance need-based, tailored customer service that extended to corporate financing for small- and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs).
The bank in June signed a memorandum of understanding with International Finance Corp., a member of the World Bank Group, to help finance SMEs with about $30 million there over the next five years.
The bank is continuing efforts to upgrade its mobile platform to help advance digital financing.