Awards for Excellence 2017
|
|
With all the factors that can affect the success and failure of an enterprise, financing SME clients can be a risky business – and one that many banks do not feel is worth the effort for the relatively small volumes of financing activity involved.
But a new strategy announced by Commerzbank late last year focuses the bank even further on serving mainstream German corporate clients, as well as developing the smaller end of the commercial sector – firms which fit into the EU’s definition of an SME (annual turnover under €50 million).
While the strategy saw its Mittelstands bank merge with its corporate and markets business, it also sees the retail unit take on businesses with a turnover of up to €15 million from €2.5 million previously. Partly as a result, it is reallocating capital to the retail division and aiming to double the number of new customers, after gaining one million in the last four years. It has also created a new division specifically for small businesses.
 |
Commerzbank’s network covering business clients is unparalleled in the continent’s biggest SME market for its geographic spread and its expertise, such as credit specialists for German bicycle shops and foundries. It is not surprising, therefore, that the European Investment Bank and European Investment Fund should choose Commerzbank for a new SME mezzanine guarantee scheme to release capital in €1.5 billion of lending. Meanwhile, new initiatives in digitization, SME networking and fintech incubation are keeping it abreast of global trends.
