First small, medium enterprise bank life-protection plan issued

Tan Jiak Hiang, chief executive officer of Sovannaphum Life ( left), Sreng Phenglong, the first customer to buy the credit life insurance policy (second left), Canadia Bank’s CEO Raymond Sia (second right) and Dexter Tan, chief executive officer of SME Bank of Cambodia at the event to celebrate the first issuance of a credit life protection policy with the first loan of the SME co-Financing scheme between Canadia Bank and the SME Bank of Cambodia.  KT/Siv Channa

Chief Executive Officer of Sovannaphum Life Tan Jiak Hiang said it was an honour to support the scheme by protecting the first loan customer with its credit life insurance policy.  “Our Credit Life insurance is specially designed for all business owners and loan borrowers.  It provides a guarantee to customers with continued collateral ownership,” Jiak Hiang said.  “In case an untimely death occurs during the loan tenure, Sovannaphum Life will activate the credit life insurance policy to pay off all outstanding loans to the bank on behalf of the customer so the financial burden won’t fall on the family,” he said. “We are really proud to issue the first credit life policy under the co-financing scheme,” he added. As a home-grown
life insurance company, Sovannaphum Life has a complete range of life insurance products meeting the needs of Cambodian people from all walks of life.  Its brand is well accepted in the Cambodian market, Jiak Hiang said.

Canadia Bank’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Raymond Sia said it was good timing for Canadia Bank to provide the first credit assurance for businesses with the SME co-finance scheme. Despite the tough situation caused by COVID-19, Canadia Bank is still strong and providing loans and other services to support customers to expand their businesses and grow, said Raymond.

Dexter Tan, CEO of SME Bank of Cambodia, said that this is the first credit life insurance customer for SMEs and it is a creative and innovative idea. Dexter said that most of the SME loans here are not protected. Therefore, what the Sovannaphum Life is doing right now is providing security protection for SMEs.

He added that SMEs are a crucial part of the Cambodian economy and contribute to national economic growth.

He said as of yesterday, the total loan drawdown was $10 million and it is expected that the draw down will be $100 million by the end of this year because the number of applicants requesting loans and drawdowns is growing day by day.

Dexter said that the average loan size is $145,000 and small loans average $18,000. “Every day we see a loan request from participating financial institutions, so we see a positive trend and we are confident that by the end of this year we will draw down a total  $100 million,” he said.

Sreng Phenglong, the first customer to receive credit from Canadia Bank’s SME co-financing scheme and the first customer to use the credit life insurance policy with Sovannaphum Life, said that it was a privilege to be first. He said that the loan is important for his business expansion and to support the same vision as the government, creating more jobs for Cambodians. At the same time, I am utterly happy after taking up a credit life insurance policy with Sovannaphum Life. I am worry-free now, because I know that should an unfortunate event occur to me, my family will not need to worry about paying outstanding loans.” Source from Khmertimes.