MCB Bank Ltd, Pakistan’s leading private sector bank, has launched a new financial product, the MCB SME Card. The card-based clean lending product was unveiled during a MoU signing ceremony with METRO Cash and Carry Pakistan, whose Hotel/Restaurant/Caterers (HORECA) customers would be the first to benefit from the new offering.
The MCB SME Card launch featured the participation of President MCB Bank, Mr. Imran Maqbool, Retail Banking Head – North MCB, Mr. Zargham Khan Durrani, Director Finance, METRO Cash and Carry, Mr. Asim Isar and senior representatives from both organizations. Participants at the event were briefed about the product by Head of Products, Retail Banking Group MCB, Mr. Hassan Tariq.
This innovation marks the first time a formal banking institution is offering a working capital line of PKR 5 million to small enterprises (SEs) & medium enterprises (MEs) against a card which operates at select merchants and dedicated MCB Bank Point of Sale (POS) machines. Salient features of the SME card include no borrowing costs (maximum grace period of up to 52 days), no collateral requirements and secured transactions besides other benefits.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Imran Maqbool emphasized the importance and role of SMEs in developing economies and explained the challenges for SMEs during the loan sanctioning process. Mr. Zargham Khan Durrani further explained how this product will eliminate those challenges and will offer substantial financial relief to SMEs by reducing their financing cost while bridging their working capital needs.
Addressing participants at the event, Mr. Asim Isar explained METRO Cash and Carry’s contribution to the overall global retail segment and acknowledged the need of such a product in the local market.
What is the benefit of this card?