THE STAR Sunday 15 February 2015

StarSpecial MONEY & YOU

Providing big support to small businesses nationwide > 2

Borrowing vs financial stability > 4

2 MONEY & YOU StarSpecial, Sunday 15 February 2015

E pride ourselves
on partnering with
customers to help them
save time and money on their
business banking needs so that
they can concentrate on running
their day-to-day business.
That is the message that
AmBank (M) Berhad (AmBank)
sends to all small business
owners across Malaysia who look
beyond just financing. Its recently
revamped Small Business Banking
(SBB) division now has a refreshed
and expanded suite of solutions
for small business owners.
SBBs tagline In partnership,
we grow is at the heart of its
value proposition to customers. To
guide the customer at every step
of the way in realising his business
dreams, a dedicated Small
Business Specialist (SBS) will aim
to understand the customers
business and personal financial
needs and offer a tailored solution
to meet those needs.
SBBs new model offers small
business owners a true partner to
help them as their business grows.
Its specialists will understand the
unique aspects of each business
and its journey and customise the
right set of solutions or package
for the customer.

The Australia
and New Zealand
Banking Group
(ANZ), which is the
strategic partner of
AmBanks parent,
AmBank Group,
has also played a
significant part in
the development
of SBB at AmBank
where intellectual
property exchange
came into play.
The pilot programme of the
new SBB model was run with a
small team throughout the Klang
Valley through assigning them to
43 branches with great success.
A further 25 staff members
were then groomed to take on
the new model. A sales force
of more than 60 specialists is
now stationed across all parts
of the country, covering the
entire network of more than 175
AmBank branches. Customers
who wish to locate their nearest

Providing big support to

small businesses nationwide

AmBank works in partnership with small business owners to help them grow their business.
SBS can do so by using the SBS
locator tool on the banks website
ambank.com.my
Apart from the sales team,
the bank is also setting up the
dedicated SB Customer Assist, a
contact centre team that provides
servicing support to small
business customers.
The online business advisory
services provided by SBB also
provide an invaluable resource
to answer questions customers
may have. The team of specialists
is trained to serve customers
efficiently and driven to be highly
responsive so that every customer
experiences the ease of doing
business with SBB.

Online business
advisory services are
also available.

Getting started with the

Small Business Essentials
Package
The package supports
customers while they concentrate
on growing their business and
consists of:
l Business Current Account
Offering convenience of managing

The Mobile Merchant Terminal is one of the packages available.

day-to-day banking transactions

with exclusive privilege of up to
2% cash bonus (for six months)
when you maintain a minimum of

RM30,000 in your daily balance

l Overdraft/Cash Line Facility-i &
Corporate Credit Card Provides
the flexibility of converting 10%
of approved Overdraft/Cash Line
Facility-i limit to a Corporate
Credit Card
l Fixed Deposit/Term Deposit-i
Enjoy a preferential rate of
0.20% p.a. above board rate with a
minimum placement of RM10,000
for tenure between one and 12
months

Apart from the

sales team, the
bank is also setting
up the dedicated
SB Customer
Assist, a contact
centre team
that provides
servicing support
to small business
customers.

l Merchant Terminal Comes

with merchant discount rate
of 1.7%, waiver of the first
three months rental fees with
subsequent rental at only RM45
per month (Mobile Merchant
Terminal Rental Fee: RM125
per month), and processing fee
of RM100 (Mobile Merchant
Terminal Processing Fee: RM150)
Terms and conditions apply.
Offer valid until March 31.

Partnership with ANZ

The Australia and New Zealand
Banking Group (ANZ), which is
the strategic partner of AmBanks
parent, AmBank Group, has also
played a significant part in the
development of SBB at AmBank
where intellectual property
exchange came into play.
Armed with the best practices
and solid market know-how, an
ANZ team was set up in Kuala
Lumpur to work with AmBank in
getting SBB off the ground with
many facets of the programme
adapted to local market conditions
and needs.

Sunday 15 February 2015

StarSpecial 3

4 MONEY & YOU StarSpecial, Sunday 15 February 2015

Borrowing vs financial stability

How to juggle your loans

When borrowing, it is important to take

strategic steps to manage your debts.

BY RACHEL PUNITHA

F you contribute significantly

to the workforce, you are
bound to have a few loans
under your belt.
Although much can be said
about loans, they are generally
a good thing. They provide the
opportunity for consumers to
purchase with large sums of
money that they otherwise
would not have lying around.
According to Bank Negara
Malaysia, the credit report
contains the following credit
information on an individual:
l Outstanding credit(s)
excluding any accounts that
have been fully settled.
l Special attention
account(s) Non-performing
loans, loans that are in default
or close to being in default.
l Application(s) for credit
Applications approved in
the previous 12 months,
excluding application that
have been rejected, deleted or
cancelled.

They also allow for good

financial behaviour to be recorded
and errant borrowers to be
monitored.
Financial institutions thrive
on loans because they need to
balance the influx of money. This
is why they are usually falling over
themselves to offer loans to their
customers.

Keeping track of your

credit history
A very good way of looking
at your financial behaviour is
through your credit report. In
Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia
(BNM) keeps a computerised
database of borrowers credit
reports that contain credit scores.
This database system is known
as the Central Credit Reference
Information System (CCRIS).
Currently, CCRIS contains credit
information on about nine million
borrowers in Malaysia. The
countless financial institutions
regularly feed CCRIS a wealth
of information on each of their
borrowers.
CCRIS then generates
individual credit reports, which

Causes of bankruptcy in
Malaysia from 2005 to 2015
5%
5% Credit Card
Guarantors Debt
5%
Corporate
Guarantors

13%
Housing
Loans

Source: AKPK
database as at
Oct 31, 2013.

21%
Others
13%
Personal
Loans

Causes of bankruptcy
In addressing the Dewan
Rakyat last year, Minister in the
Prime Ministers Department
Nancy Shukri,said that the
main cause for bankruptcy was
borrowers being unable to pay
back vehicle loans (26.5%), adding
that from 2007 to last year, there
were a total of 33,570 individuals
who had defaulted. Housing loans,
personal loans and business loans
followed respectively.
So I dont think the reason
for their bankruptcy is economic
difficulty, but personal needs. If
we look at the economic aspect,
it is in fourth place among the list
of reasons found by the ministrys
study, said Nancy.
To create awareness among the
public, the Malaysia Department
of Insolvency (MDI) has shared
some statistics on various news
portals such as the Malay Mail
Online, indicating the causes of
bankruptcy (see below).

This works both ways as well

if you wish to settle your loan
fast, you will want lower rates
and the way to get them is to
use your good behaviour in your
favour.
Another way to manage your
loans is to be involved with
your financial institutions. This
means learning their language
and jargon, understanding the
way they approve and handle
your loans, reading the fine print
and persistently asking about
how they can help in reducing or
speeding up your payments and
interests.
This is a lot of work but
banks will appreciate your
being financially literate. This
reduces the effort they spend on
explaining processes and fine
print to customers. Moreover,
there will not be any conflicts or
miscommunication with them as
you will already be in the know.
Any other method to manage
your finances well is not rocket
science. It is the same with losing
weight: eat well and exercise.
With financial stability, it is spend
less and save more. Everything
else is just window dressing.
A lot of help or advice from
financial institutions is just logic
and reason that you can, with a
little thought, actually arrive at
and execute yourself. If you need
professional help, be selective
with your choices.
There is no one basic formula
for all. Each financial situation is
different from another. Research
the source of your help first
before accepting it, let alone
paying for it. That is not another
debt you want hanging over your
head. It would be too ironic.

It is a good idea to know about

these causes before you make
any major financial decision
(especially if you decide to be a
guarantor).
The Credit Counselling and
Debt Management Agency,
commonly known as AKPK
(Agensi Kaunseling dan
Pengurusan Kredit) has also
shared data on its website
explaining the reasons for
defaulting on loans given by
participants of their Debt
Management Programme (the
programme is for individuals who
need assistance in managing their
personal debts with financial
service providers regulated by
Bank Negara Malaysia) (see below
right).

who need it. The government and

MDI for instance are reaching out
to the public to assist anybody in
any way they can.
In the same address to the
Dewan Rakyat, Nancy added that
the ministry is now focusing on
single mothers, who are often
abandoned by their husbands and
burdened by debts that were not
theirs.
If you feel that you or someone
you know is heading towards
such a scenario, persuasive
measures should be considered
immediately.

Maintaining financial
stability

1%
Income Tax
Debt

25%
Car Loans

12%
Business
Loans

are made available for companies,

financial institutions and even
the borrowers themselves upon
request.

According to The Credit

Counselling and Debt
Management Agency (known
by its Bahasa Malaysia
acronym AKPK), nearly 50%
of participants of their Debt
Management Programme (a
programme for individuals who
need assistance in managing
their personal debts with
financial service providers
regulated by Bank Negara
Malaysia) face challenges in
managing their cash flow.
The main problem people
faced was being unaware of
their financial position and
constantly making wrong
financial decisions.
A simple personal net worth
statement could easily help
you understand your financial
position and assist you in
making appropriate financial
decisions whenever needed.
One of the main ways of
managing your loans is to
keep an eye on your credit
scores. Interestingly, not many
people do this. You need to
stay one step ahead of financial
institutions and know exactly
where you stand financially.
Your credit rating will
speak volumes of the way you
manage your loans. This is very
important because by taking
care with your loans, you will
be able to negotiate for cheaper
loans or rates. Your healthy
credit rating can be used as a
leverage in the future when you
will need housing loans or even
for business credit.
Negotiating your way to
lower rates will also lead to you
settling your loan much quicker
than anticipated.

Financial stability is a very

temperamental state. The
information was made available
by AKPK not to intimidate but
to educate the public on the
high possibility that they could
find themselves in similar dire
financial state.
Even if your financial situation
is all fine and dandy, there is no
harm in taking strategic steps
to ensure you or your family
never has to go through financial
distress.
There is help available to those

Some causes of
over-indebtedness
l Greed: Expected high returns
with no clue of the risk involved.
For example, trapped in financial
scams and investment failure
(business or personal investment)
l Lifestyle: Maintaining
high standards of living with
insufficient cash flow (cash
outflow more than cash inflow).
l Circumstances: No shortterm planning for sufficient funds
to support any emergency matters.
For example, AKPK database
shows high medical expenses at
18.5% was due to lack of savings
(ideally three to six months
of monthly salary) to support
monthly costs to avoid the usage
of credit cards or other credit
instruments which attract high
interest.