VietNamNet Bridge – Borrowers have never been so solicitously
welcomed by commercial banks before. Since the demand increases dramatically,
banks have to lure borrowers with generous offers.
Exactly at lunchtime, three nice
girls in uniforms with blue skirts and white T-shirts, were seen standing at
the entrance door to the office building on Duy Tan Street in Cau Giay district
in Hanoi, greeting visitors, delivering leaflets and smiling, inviting people
to borrow money from their bank.
The smiles of the beautiful
promoters really could help attract visitors. However, visitors have been
attracted also by the offers of the bank. ANZ commits to lend money to fund
house purchases at the preferential interest rates, lower by 3 percent per
annum in the first three months.
Besides, borrowers would also
have the chances to receive valuable gifts – LCD TVs, microwave oven, depending
on the value of the loans.
“I have never seen bank officers
contacting possible clients to invite for loans,” Hoai, an engineer of a
company whose head office is located at the building, said.
The slow credit growth has made
bankers impatient, thus forcing them to try all possible measures to push up
lending. The reports by the State Bank of Vietnam showed that the capital
outflow got stuck in the first seven months of the year, while a plus growth
rate has been seen only since August.
The second quarter’s finance
reports of many banks showed the minus growth rates. Vietinbank, one of the
state owned biggest banks in Vietnam, reported the minus 3.1 percent growth
rate. Vietcombank has reported a modest growth rate of 2.96 percent.
Managers of the banks all have
admitted that it is very difficult to find borrowers at this moment. Businesses
nowadays dare not borrow money to run new investment projects, because they
cannot see bright prospects on the market. Meanwhile, a lot of businesses
incurring heavy debts cannot pay bank debts and access new loans.
Therefore, pushing up consumer
loans is really a feasible solution for banks to increase the outstanding loans
and seek profits.
Contacting individuals to invite
for loans, offering gifts to borrowers and taking full advantage of
relationships to approach clients are the ways followed by banks to increase
the outstanding loans and fulfill the yearly credit plan.
Tuan Minh, a customer in HCM
City, said he was so surprised when he was given a high quality plastic box
when he borrowed 500 million dong from VP Bank in September.
“It was really a big surprise. As
far as I know, banks only give gifts to depositors, not borrowers,” Minh said.
Meanwhile, the Asia Commercial
Bank (ACB) has promised to provide the loans worth 99 percent of the values of
the houses clients want to buy. VietBank has promised to give the answers about
whether it would disburse money within 48 hours.
The email messages with the
information about new credit packages and preferential lending interest rates
have been repeatedly sent to office workers’ email boxes.
Thanh in Binh Tan district said
she receives mails or messages from Tien Phong Bank every day. “They told me
that I can borrow money at the surprisingly low interest rate of 0.82 percent a
month, if I want money to buy houses or cars,” Thanh said.
Deputy General Director of ACB
Nguyen Thanh Toai has admitted that bankers now target individual clients, because
they believe they can make higher profits, while the risks would be dispersed
instead of focusing on businesses.
Compiled by Thu Uyen
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