GP, Prime Bank join hands to ease financing, tech support for SMEs

The country's largest mobile operator Grameenphone has partnered with Prime Bank Limited to digitise the loans and ease the financing solutions for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Under the arrangement, Grameenphone SME customers will get working capital (CC, OD and Demand Loan), term loans for fixed asset purchase and capital expenditures, and international trade solutions (LC, LATR, IDBP, bank guarantee, work order etc).

In addition, the partnership will enable the SMEs to address their need for a better access to financial support, ICT solutions, promotional support and a wide range of other services.

The partnership declaration came at a webinar held on Wednesday organised by Prime Bank Ltd.

Md Zahid Ahsan Russel, state minister for youth and sports, spoke at the meeting as the chief guest. Khairul Basher, Grameenphone's head of communication, moderated the session.

Rahel Ahmed, Prime Bank's managing director and chief executive officer (CEO), Yasir Azman, Grameenphone CEO, Syed M Omar Tayub, head of msme banking at Prime Bank, and Kazi Mahboob Hassan, Grameenphone's chief business officer, also spoke at the webinar.

Zahid Ahsan Russel said, "With a strong network of Grameenphone and financing solutions of Prime Bank, this partnership will help the SMEs make a comeback from losses due to coronavirus. We believe our collective efforts will take us to the path of recovery and resilience."

Yasir Azman said, "I firmly believe this partnership will contribute significantly to SMEs' modernisation and help to overcome the socio-economic dents caused by Covid-19.

"It is high time we provided our expertise so that the SMEs can unlock their full potential and boost the economic growth. Hence, we are pleased to collaborate with Prime Bank to provide simplified solutions to the SMEs."

Rahel Ahmed said the stakeholders of different sectors have to join hands in building a conducive ecosystem for small enterprises and ensuring easy access to loans, especially at this challenging time.

"We are happy to launch this alliance with Grameenphone, which we believe will go a long way to take the SME sector to the next level of development."

They can also avail a wide range of deposit products and free Internet banking – ALTITUDE – for conducting a broad range of e-transaction, he added.