Niaz Habib, Managing Director of Premier Bank Limited

Premier Bank Limited focused more on the SMEs in recent years in a bid to help flourish the sector's growth.

"We believe SMEs are emerging as a potential segment of the country's economy in the backdrop of the global economic crisis and collapse of renowned financial institutions have added new urgency for diversification of bank loan portfolio and financing in SME sector," Premier Bank Managing Director Niaz Habib told the FE in an interview.

In testimony to the bank's thrust on SME activities, the bank added three more branches in 2010 with the earlier five branches, he said.

The bank employed various tools and techniques, products and policies, staff strategies to attract the potential entrepreneurs in the economy.

Outstanding amount of SME segment recorded at Tk 1445.65 million marking a 3.12 per cent of total loan portfolio of the bank.

The bank is also giving priority to women entrepreneurs through setting up 'women entrepreneurs finance department' to give them extra edge and advantage to meet their financial needs on innovative ventures, Mr Habib said.

Explaining the bank's efforts on adopting modern banking methods, he said : We have adopted latest technologies to develop more flexible structure that can respond quickly to the dynamics of a fast changing market scenario to face the challenges emanating from the growing competition and increasing customer aspiration.

"In 2010 we embarked on large investment in development of information and communication technology and successfully implemented the most sophisticated and centralized core banking system," he said adding "This is the plus point of us to provide good service to customers that differentiates us from other banks and financial institutes."

On adopting IT, he said it is the need of the time that a successful bank has to embrace the latest banking technology to modernize its performance as well as maximize its efficiency.

With the latest uploading of 'Core Banking Solution' software in the banks' core operating system, Premier Bank is looking for bringing up a revolutionary change in the country's banking industry.

"Our target is to make the Premier Bank a 'Bank of Choice' for clients of all stages as well in terms of employee satisfaction. Modernization of our banking system is a part of this vision," he added.

Terming the bank's activities as process oriented bank, Mr Habib said the bank is growing in all sectors. We are compliant in Basel II to cope with the international best practices and to make its capital more risk sensitive as well as more shock resilient.

"Aiming to serve the remittance earners' with our advanced and sophisticated remittance transferring systems, we are setting up exchange houses in London, Dubai, Singapore and Italy," he said.

These four locations were chosen under the first phase of overseas exchange house establishment considering their overseas employment potentials for Bangladeshi workers, he said.

The bank has issued 20,000 credit cards and 16,000 debit cards until 2010 and earned an accumulated profit of Tk 210 million. Last year it issued VISA Prepaid Travel Card, MasterCard both credit and debit card along with Platinum Dual Currency and Premier Hajj Card which added new dimension in card business.

Paid-up capital of the bank stood at Tk 2914.97 million in 2010 up from Tk 2242.28 million in 2009 and its capital adequacy ratio is 10.01 per cent in 2010 while in 2009 it was 15.14 per cent, its annual report said.

In 2010, total deposits went up to Tk 17,309 million, total assets of the bank stood at Tk 68240.35 million with 63 per cent growth of earning per share that increased to Tk 6.08.

At present the bank has 52 branches with approval of more six branches from the central bank and plans to open another 20. 

- By Monira Munni

Source: Financial Express/Bangladesh/May-25-2011