Bogor, 17 December 2014 – As a bank that is focused and consistent in serving lower-income segments of society as well as micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) entrepreneurs, including productive poor communities (mass market), PT Bank Tabungan Pensiunan Nasional Tbk (SMBCI) believes that the mass market segment not only require financial access, but also training and guidance to enhance their business capacities and quality of life.

To realize this, SMBCI has implemented a customer empowerment program called Daya. DAYA is a measured and sustainable empowerment program, that is conducted at all SMBCI branch offices. Daya consists of the following three program pillars: Daya Sehat Sejahtera, Daya Tumbuh Usaha, and Daya Tumbuh Komunitas. Daya is integral to all of SMBCI’s business units, namely SMBCI Purna Bakti, SMBCI Mitra Usaha Rakyat and SMBCI Sinaya. Daya is also applied in the subsidiary SMBCI Syariah. All SMBCI customers, including pensioners, MSME entrepreneurs as well as productive poor communities, benefit from Daya.

In order to enhance the quality of the Daya Program, SMBCI has joined together with the Bogor Institute of Agriculture – Business Management (MB-IPB) to help in compiling a variety of training modules and curricula required by customers.

As a token of appreciation for SMBCI customers who have taken part in all the Daya modules, SMBCI and IPB are holding a Micro Customer Graduation ceremony today. “This year, a total of 10,000 SMBCI customers have completed the Daya modules. We are staging graduation ceremonies symbolically for 300 customers in four cities. These graduation ceremonies are being held to show our appreciation for the seriousness of our customers in attending various types of training sessions,” said Mulia Salim, Director of SMBCI.   

The graduation process has already been completed for 50 customers in Palembang (8 December 2014), 50 customers in Banjarmasin (10 December 2014), and 50 customers in Semarang (11 December 2014). Today (17/12), 150 customers will graduate in Bogor.

SMBCI and MB IPB believe that the implementation of the Daya program will enhance the business capacities of their customers. This program is also effective in overcoming the obstacles faced by micro enterprise entrepreneurs. Based on the results of MB-IPB research, micro and small enterprise entrepreneurs experience a number of challenges in developing their businesses.

“First of all, micro and small enterprise entrepreneurs tend not to be bankable yet, both because of a lack of transparent financial management as well as a lack of managerial and financial ability. Secondly, they have a lack of knowledge about marketing, production and quality control, not to mention finance and accounting. This situation is brought about by the minimal opportunities available to such people for following developments in technology as well as a lack of access to education and training to develop their business capacities,” explained Arief Daryanto, Program Director of post-graduate Management and Business at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (MB IPB).

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