Best SME Banks Ranking 2023

TABInsights conducts an annual evaluation of leading banks in SME banking in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, resulting in a Top 10 ranking. The candidates are assessed on various factors, including the size and growth of their SME business and its contribution to overall bank revenue, their ability to serve and expand their customer base, financial performance, risk management, process automation, ecosystem building, and progress in developing their sustainable finance and advisory framework, as well as improving their knowledge and skills in lending practices to thrive in the green-financing market. This year's evaluation of SME banking highlights how banks are emerging from the pandemic and assisting clients in expanding their operations in the region by digitizing their processes and embarking on sustainable initiatives.

Rank 2023 Rank 2023 Country Financial Institution Organisation Corporate Strategy SME Customer Financial Performance Risk Management Technology and Operations Sustainable and Green Financing Total Scores
Total Scores Achievable 10 5 10 10 5 5 5 50
1 1 Singapore UOB 6.3 5.0 5.9 5.8 2.3 3.4 2.5 31.2
2 5 Australia NAB 6.0 4.0 5.7 5.5 2.8 3.4 2.0 29.4
3 2 Singapore OCBC 6.0 5.0 5.6 4.1 2.0 3.4 2.5 28.6
4 9 Malaysia Hong Leong Bank 6.0 5.0 4.8 6.6 2.0 2.2 1.5 28.1
5 3 Hong Kong HSBC 4.9 4.0 5.6 4.9 3.3 2.3 2.0 27.0
6 n/a UAE First Abu Dhabi Bank 4.2 5.0 5.3 7.3 1.3 2.2 1.5 26.8
7 4 Taiwan E.SUN Bank 5.8 5.0 2.9 5.9 2.8 1.6 2.0 26.0
8 5 Thailand Kasikornbank 4.9 5.0 5.6 4.5 2.0 2.4 1.5 25.9
9 n/a Australia Judo Bank 6.0 4.0 4.8 5.8 2.3 1.6 1.0 25.5
10 12 Vietnam Vietinbank 5.1 5.0 3.6 4.7 2.3 3.0 1.5 25.2

Note:

Our assessment comprises of the following KPI per dimension:

  • Organisation: (1) Size of balance sheet; (2) Balance sheet growth; (3) Portion which is micro and small in accounts; (4) Loans/full time employee; (5) Revenue contribution; (6) % of SME projects on agile; (7) Regional platform strength; (8) # of third-party active APIs; (9) Strength of platform business
  • Corporate Strategy: (1) Clearly articulation of strategy; (2) Level of engagement with The Asian Banker
  • SME Customer: (1) SME customers; (2) Customer growth; (3) SME deposit growth; (4) Digital active; (5) Net promoter score (NPS); (6) Market share
  • Financial Performance: (1) Net income per SME account; (2) Revenue growth; (3) Delta NIM; (4) ROA; (5) Delta ROA; (6) Fee income; (7) SME LDR; (8) CIR; (9) Delta CIR
  • Risk Management: (1) Delinquency 30d+; (2) Gross NPL ratio; (3) Change in gross NPL ratio
  • Technology and Operations: (1) Processing time for opening an SME account; (2) Onboarding ekYC 100%; (3) Portion of SME loans is digitally sold end to end; (4) TAT of a simple small working capital loan application to disbursement; (5) Scope of 10 key service solutions; (6) # of RPAs deployed
  • Sustainable and Green Financing: (1) ESG financing; (2) # of ESG verticals; (3) Advisory framework
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