Leading Spanish savings bank Caja Madrid yesterday revealed details of an aggressive plan to increase its client base for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), those with annual turnover of between Ђ1m and Ђ150m.
The savings bank will begin to offer four new products, including a rapid loan offer, electronic billing, a new deposit account, and a package of various other services. The savings bank also plans to open 10 new centres dedicated to services for SMEs, to take its total to 48.
Caja Madrid hopes that its move, which follows similar strategies from rivals in the Spanish banking sector such as Banesto and Banco Popular, will lead to the savings bank gaining 60,000 new SME clients during the next two years, doubling its current rate of growth in that area. Services for SMEs are expected to generate Ђ60bn of turnover in 2006, a rise of 30 per cent on the current figure of Ђ46bn.
Source: Europe Intelligence Wire
