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BCEL expands as banking competition heats up
The Banque pour le Commerce Exterieur Lao Public (BCEL) has seen its customer numbers swell by over 30 percent in the first three months of 2011 compared to the whole of last year.
“We have seen a 30 percent increase in general service activity including the number of customers opening deposit accounts and the volume of money we process,” said BCEL General Director Mr. Sonexay Sitphaxay on Monday.
“There are least 200 new deposit accounts opened each day,” Mr. Sonexay said in an interview with Vientiane Times after a ceremony to open the bank's newly renovated Chao Anouvong exchange unit in Chanthabouly district.
BCEL's activities continue to grow and strengthen in various areas, including size of assets, number of deposits, loans and customer numbers.
“Currently we have more than 450,000 deposit accounts,” Mr. Sonexay said.
The bank plans to continue its expansion of service units, branches and ATMs in commercial and densely populated areas.
It now has more than 150 ATMs nationwide, many more than in previous years, and will continue to install new ATMs.
“We install about 20 to 30 additional ATMs nationwide each year,” he said.
Currently many banks in Laos are rapidly expanding their ATM networks in both Vientiane and the provinces in an effort to capture a share of a fast growing market.
The Joint Development Bank (JDB) is spending about 1.2 billion kip (US$150,000) on the installation of six new ATMs in Vientiane to meet rising demand and competition.
JDB currently has 32 ATMs in service, including 29 in Vientiane and three in Luang Prabang. It had only 18 ATMs in operation in 2008.
Another financial operator, ACLEDA Bank Lao Ltd, now has 15 ATMs in Vientiane and the provinces of Savannakhet, Champassak and Khammuan.
An official from ACLEDA, Ms. Phetsamay Nakhonein, said “We also hope to have another 10 ATMs installed in various provinces and Vientiane this year.” Commercial banking has grown rapidly in Laos after the Bank Law was passed and implemented in 2007.
In the 1990s Laos had only 10 banks, including six that were foreign-owned. That number rose to 24, with an additional 11 foreign branches and four state-owned commercial banks last year, according to the Bank of the Lao PDR.
A senior official from the Bank of the Lao PDR, Mr. Phoutthaxay Sivilay said “Now there are 25 banks in Laos, including 12 or 13 branches of foreign banks.”
The largest banks are mainly state-owned commercial banks that have branches and service units nationwide, such as BCEL, the Lao Development Bank (LDB) and the Agriculture Promotion Bank.
Currently BCEL has 18 branches, over 20 service units, more than 10 foreign exchange offices and over 80 correspondent banks worldwide.
LDB has 11 correspondent banks in Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Germany, the United States and Switzerland.
vientiane times
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