RHB Indochina Bank entered the Cambodian market in October 2008 with a $13 million capital investment with its first branch office in Phnom Penh. Under a highly experienced management team and committed Cambodian staff, the bank has been successful in establishing a strong foothold and is continuing to scale greater heights in Cambodia.

Since opening, RHBIBL has expanded its presence from a single branch to nine throughout the country, according to Lim Loong Seng, managing director and country head of RHB Indochina Bank Limited (RHBIBL) formerly known as OSK Indochina Bank Limited.

“We began our operations with 23 staff members and a $13 million capital investment. Now our total assets have reached $200 million with an operational staff of 160. We’ve grown from one branch to nine branches, five in the capital and the rest in the provinces of Kampong Cham, Battambang, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville. Plans are also afoot to establish more branches to serve the needs of customers in various selected key locations.” Lim said.  

He said that the bank focuses on lendings to the consumers and the business enterprises, especially the SMEs and serves a wide range of clientele, from local consumers and traders to international investors.

“We provide financing to a cross spectrum of economic sectors including agriculture and manufacturing industries, tourism, trade and construction,” Lim said.

Mr. Lim added that “the bank has also established 17 self-service terminals such as full-function ATMs that enable depositors to perform cash deposit, cross-currency cash withdrawals and cheque deposits in Phnom Penh and key locations in the provinces across the country.” Account holders are also able to make payment for their loans either by cash or cheque and transfer from other accounts.

RHBIBL offers a full range of commercial banking services such as savings, current and fixed deposit accounts; personal, automobile, housing and property loans for individuals and companies; on top of business loans for working capital and business expansion as well as trade financing for small and medium-size enterprises. It also provides remittance, Western Union services and money exchange.

The bank also wholly owns RHB OSK Indochina Securities Limited which offers investment banking services, such as underwriting, dealing, broking and advisory services, which complement the services provided by the commercial bank. The security firm is currently working with several companies in Cambodia to guide them towards eventually listing on the Cambodia Stock Exchange through initial public offerings (IPO).

“RHB Indochina Bank Limited is now part of the larger RHB Banking Group that has a presence in key markets across seven countries in the ASEAN region as well as Hong Kong and China,” Lim said. “The group is one of the largest integrated financial products and services provider in Malaysia with total assets of $63 billion as of March 2013, with more than 16,000 employees over 550 offices in eight countries.”

The RHB Banking Group is the fourth largest financial services provider in Malaysia and owns RHB Investment Bank, the largest investment bank in Malaysia in terms of asset size. The Group has a proud history of over 100 years through its commercial banking operations in Malaysia and has won numerous prestigious awards, underlining the industry’s recognition of its commitment to consistently delivering cutting-edge value to its customers. The Group is currently embarking on expanding its reach to other ASEAN countries to satisfy the needs of its clientele.

“RHBIBL has grown from strength to strength since starting operations about five years ago in Cambodia. For the financial year ended December 31, 2012, the bank continued to record strong all-round performance with further improvements in key financial indicators compared with the previous corresponding period,” Mr. Lim said. “Loans and advances grew by 56 per cent compared with industry growth of 35 percent, notwithstanding the increasingly competitive operating environment. Deposits growth of the Bank was at 48 percent, again outpacing the industry’s growth of 30 per cent for the year. Correspondingly, total assets grew a commendable 44 per cent in 2012. With prudent credit culture and good risk management, the Bank’s asset quality remained strong with zero non-performing loans, improving from 0.3 per cent recorded in the previous corresponding period.”

With Cambodia’s strong growth trajectory underpinned by a favourable investment climate, business-friendly policies and improving infrastructure, RHBIBL remains optimistic and bullish on the positive and conducive environment to drive economic growth and progress. Leveraging on the Bank’s integration into the bigger banking franchise of the RHB Banking Group, RHBIBL will be able to further scale up its activities to support and cater for companies with aspirations for regional expansion, without losing sight of the imperative value-added personalised service that builds sustainable long-term relationships with the customers.