ANZ Royal Bank, a joint venture between one of Australia’s four largest banks and the Royal Group, aims to open its first five Cambodian branches in two to three months, ANZ Royal Chief Executive Dean Cleland said Thursday.
The exact opening dates of the four Phnom Penh branches and a Siem Reap branch depends on staff training, the readiness of buildings and how soon technology will be in place, he said.
“The property market is challenging here….The properties have been acquired, but the buildings require work,” Cleland said, during an interview at one of the future branches on Phnom Penh’s Sihanouk Boulevard. “The skills of the job applicants were low, so we will have to conduct intensive training.”
ANZ Royal is chaired by Kith Meng, head of the Royal Group, with a 55 percent controlling stake held by ANZ.
It will be the first retail bank with major international standing to enter Cambodia and will be the first to offer internationally linked automated teller machines, a major draw for tourists.
“Anyone with Maestro or Cirrus network cards will be able to access their accounts,” Cleland said.
ANZ’s market strategy, based on a survey of 3,000 households, will involve convincing Cambodians that banks are more than just savings institutions, he said.
“Cambodians believe they do not have enough money to put in banks because they view banks as savings institutions,” he said. “In the US, Australia and other countries, banking has become a convenience…. Once the market sees it can get 24-hour access to its money, the perception will change.”
Though consumer confidence in banks has been shaky since 11 banks liquidated five years ago, ANZ will not offer deposit insurance. It will instead, as a member of the Bankers Association, lobby to have the industry adopt a deposit-insurance system.
Cleland said ANZ’s objective is not to steal market share from existing banks but to rein in the estimated 90 percent of cash savings currently not being deposited in banks.
“That is a great statistic for us,” he said.
At first the bank will only offer business loans.
Mortgages and personal loans may come later. Interest rates will be determined by the market, he said.
While the Asian Development Bank on Wednesday predicted just 2.3 GDP percent growth this year in Cambodia, Cleland said this has not dampened ANZ Royal’s outlook.
“We are in Cambodia for the long term,” he said.
“Our level of service will not make us the cheapest option in the market,” he said, adding that ANZ’s fees have not been determined yet.
