ANZ Royal Bank and microfinance institution Hattha Kaksekar Limited (HKL) yesterday signed a pact aiming to expand the firms’ market positions.

At a press conference in Phnom Penh, CEOs from both companies agreed to align their banking systems from early August to reduce transaction times, provide international remittance services to HKL through ANZ and bolster customer referrals between the two.

Grant Knuckey, chief executive of ANZ Royal, said the partnership would also assist the bank in serving customers located in the provinces.

“What this does is essentially expands our branch network, allows both companies to join customer bases and gives each the opportunity to secure new customers,” he said, adding that no plans for a merger had been discussed.

Hout Ieng Tong, CEO of HKL, said the partnership could also result in a rollout of ANZ-HKL branded ATMs in the future.