OREANDA-NEWS. December 04, 2012. Since January this year, ICBC continues to concentrate on the delivery of financial services to micro-and-small enterprises (MSEs) as one way to support real economy. One focus is to extend MSE loans online. Data shows that, for the period ending September 2012 since the launch of the service in end-2009, ICBC has disbursed RMB 668.1 billion of credit to nearly 40,000 MSEs for their funding needs, reported the press-centre of ICBC.

ICBC started a program in 2007 to add innovation and convenience across its banking channels for MSEs through exhaustive R&D efforts and include the services as one strategic item of ICBC development in recent years. In a period of whizzed technological progress which brings overhaul in business management and loan services to companies, ICBC was the first bank in the country to launch online loan services since 2009, leveraging its cutting-edge IT and real-time business processing. ICBC utilizes technology strategically to deliver the new service by combining conventional loan services and e-commerce into one. Better services can be provided to reduce the borrowing cost of MSE loans using the automatic processing of ICBC internal system. Moreover, new types of loans can be provided to more MSEs through innovation, as e-commerce transactions can be facilitated under one centralized platform.

So far, ICBC online loans for MSEs are mainly "e-Revolving Loan" where borrowers can apply online, loans to small online merchants through e-commerce platform and e-supply chain finance. "e-Revolving Loan" is an ICBC service for micro-and-small enterprises to apply for revolving loan online by themselves. Borrowers only need to sign the revolving loan contract with ICBC one time. After that, they can apply, draw or repay loan under the contract through Internet Banking during the validity period of the contract, no restriction on where and when to apply. In these days of credit disruption, ICBC ensures the availability of funds to cater the need of "short-term, frequent, urgent" working capital of the borrowers. Small business owners welcome "e-Revolving Loan", since they can borrow and repay anytime, use the loan at own discretion to increase efficiency. "e-Revolving Loan" is highly efficient, apply freely, no interest if no drawdown, which enables borrowers to borrow and repay loans according to peak/low seasons. This translates to cheaper borrowing cost for MSEs since their demand of working capital is intermittent and periodic.

Besides the "e-Revolving Loan", in line with the financial needs emerged during the development of e-commerce, ICBC also launched loans to online micro enterprises, a new type of online finance product designed for micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households running business on the third-party e-commerce platforms. Small online loans under RMB 5 million are offered to each borrower; On the other hand, ICBC rolled out e-supply chain finance, a new product designed for downstream/upstream MSEs around the key company in the supply chain. By extending loans easily and automatically across different regions, the credit line of key company can be transferred to the enterprises in the upstream/downstream. Focus is now turned to the logistics and cash flow, helping small/micro enterprises in the upstream/downstream address the issue of guarantee due to lack of adequate collateral.

With the cutting-edge technical expertise and product R&D, ICBC will look at the best delivery of online MSE loans at this time of internet era, while focusing consistently on innovation that is relevant to the need of small/micro enterprises, said an ICBC executive. At the forefront of innovation and technology in terms of coming out with new products, ICBC offers a wide range of finance services for MSEs at different stages of development. They will be the first ICBC customers to enjoy the financial services brought by the advance in IT technology to drive their business.