Banking on the future

FIRST it was leasing and hire purchasing then factoring and later Mastercard. Now National MBf Finance Fiji) Limited plans to introduce another type of credit card - a Travel Mastercard.

The credit card will be separate from its standard and gold cards and is expected to be available next year.

These plans are just part of what the finance company intends to introduce over the next few years.

National MBf, a joint venture between government-owned National Bank of Fiji and MBf Finance Berhad of Malaysia, has an operating capital of SFI million with a 5F500,000 investment in compu ter software and hardware for Mastercard alone.

The parent company, which is present in Fiji and Papua New Guinea, is looking at investing in Tonga. It has a diversified business interest which includes in surance firms, supermarkets, manufac turing, banking and so on.

In Fiji, National MBf has established a credit card branch in the western division and is installing Mastercard terminals at all NBF branches.

The finance company is also finalising details on the factoring service which will be available soon.

The service will be open to businesses which perform well financially, have potential, and are good debtors. For example, businesses which export goods are expected to make payments includ ing duty on the items. The receiver of the goods will usually ask for 60 days or more before paying for the items.

When this happens, most businesses face cash flow problems until the pay ment is made. In order to avoid such problems, National MBf enters the scene with a factoring service.

The finance company will be able to pay as much as 80 per cent of the value of the items within 24 to 48 hours without asking for collaterals. It also up-lifts the invoice for the items from the business.

Companies will have to pay a factoring fee of one to three percent, depending on the value of the invoice and an interest rate calculated according to the number of withdrawals.

Leasing and hire-purchasing are also important services available at National MBf. Leasing involves the renting of

equipment like heavy machinery, medi

cal and dental equipment and compu ters. The equipment, which is bought by the finance company, can either be sold to the users or substituted for a new machine.

“The market here is not too bad. It is

quite attractive even though it is small.

Our commitment here is quite substan tial,” said National MBfs assistant vice

president. Sinclair Wong.

Despite National \lBfs range of ser vices and future plans in Fiji, the company has expressed concern at the absence of an overall association aimed

at protecting foreign investors. “The only

concern vve have is that we have to safe guard the industry as a whole. If somebody does something wrong, the government passes an act and everybody suffers,” Wong said. “In financial lines, we are a bit

concerned be cause if financial com panies come in and act

irresponsibly,

there is no cen

tral organis

ation which can look after

these things.

Our invest ment here is long-term.’ □

National MBf’s Sinclair Wong

The Mastercard: a National MBf service