PrimeCredit Limited

Outstanding Enterprises

2

PRIORITISING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IN THE DIGITAL ERA

PrimeCredit Limited, has been introducing innovative services to be more customer-centric and to earn recognition in the market and of its customers by leveraging financial technologies. As a market leader, it has been adapting and seizing opportunities to grow the business in challenging times.

Chief Executive Officer, Beril Shen says the market has recognised continuing achievements by PrimeCredit.

“I believe this is due to our strengths. We have been in Hong Kong for more than 40 years and have supported the people through good times and difficult times, the financial crisis and the pandemic,’’ Shen says.

She cites resilience, the people and the culture, being open-minded, and innovative, as the principal strengths of PrimeCredit, which has supported its customers through the decades since founding.

“We have a common objective and work closely together. It is a very strong team spirit. That enables us to adapt to market changes. During COVID-19, we turned challenges into opportunities. We focused on innovations of products and services. We upgraded our services and earned recognition and won the hearts of our customers. Our business grew during the pandemic.’’

Referring to being open-minded and innovative, Shen says, the philosophy of being customer-centric is important to the development of the business.

PrimeCredit has been transforming over the past five years to turn from being product-driven to being customer-centric. “The team has an objective to provide an extraordinary experience to the customer,’’ she explains.

Innovative services have been launched in the past year, including a virtual credit card issuance, where customers can apply online. This is a departure from traditional card application, where customers wait for one or two weeks to get the physical card, Shen points out.

“Once a card is approved you can enable that on our mobile app. There were only a few in the market to enable NFC (near field communication) mobile app payment. Even without the physical card you can use the NFC solution to make payment, online or offline. You don’t need to bind it to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, or other wallets.’’ A physical card is also issued. But, to use the card, applicants do not need to wait for one, or two weeks. “They can use the card right away,’’ Shen assures.

Providing more offerings

PrimeCredit has been evolving in the past five to seven years. In the credit card comparison website, their card is ranked top, making PrimeCredit not only famous in personal loans but also an established brand in the credit card market.

Shen says PrimeCredit has a long-standing mission to promote quality financial services, she calls it the 3As principle — Available, Affordable, Accessible.

What matters is to promote products that fit customer needs.

“We make choices available. This year, we introduced a unique personal loan offering. During the pandemic, we noticed, many people may not need a large loan, but a small amount, quickly. We introduced the instant cash loan of a small amount in the second quarter right after the fifth wave. Customers only need to make a call. No need to provide redundant

PHILOSOPHY

With over 40 years experiences in offering financial products and services, PrimeCredit is committed to providing high-quality customer service, professional consultation and tailormade solutions. Whilst ensuring all their staff are well trained with a high standard of product knowledge, PrimeCredit also emphasizes its understanding of what the customers feel, think and wish, in order to provide them with a comprehensive range of all-round, customer-centric and value-added services.

documents. If they are online savvy, they use our mobile app or website.’’

To enable this efficiency, there was a lot of product streamlining and automation. “This reflects the capability of the team to use fintech to support our business. We leveraged the EKYC solution, big data and AI-based approval process,’’ Shen explains.

PrimeCredit took note of the need for flexibility during the pandemic, and introduced a 14-day payment period. As for affordability, as a money lender, PrimeCredit not only aims to do business but also be a reliable and responsible lender, Shen says. This is an important social responsibility, which PrimeCredit adheres to.

In the past year, PrimeCredit improved its online capability and loan processing. A property owner loan was also introduced. It does not require property as collateral. A lower interest rate is available for a longerterm repayment. Referring to accessibility, Shen notes the buildup of comprehensive channels, including a network of about 30 branches, call centres, and sales centres.

Over the past five years, the digital capability has been strengthened.

“Online, we provide application solutions. We were early in the market to introduce this. We leverage AI (artificial intelligence) and chatbot to make inquiries. We also enhanced our mobile functions for loans and cards. For loan customers we can pay through FPS (Faster Payment System) to their account. For credit cards, they can check statements, balance, get cash advance, and change credit limit into instalments.’’

Shen says PrimeCredit was early to introduce ‘buy now pay later’, as far back as 2016. Customers can change a transaction from a threemonth instalment up to 24 months.

She says the penetration of the mobile app is quite high because of its practical functions and she demonstrated how it displays account details, instalment options, payments choices, QR code ATM withdrawal, insurance services, and travel services, and e-vouchers of different merchants.

Caring for employees and the environment

The pandemic, in particular the first quarter of 2022, was a challenge for the staff and their health, and this was considered a priority. Flexible work hours introduced along with casual wear. The uniform at branches was changed to Polo shirts. An online lucky draw offering staycations, cash and travel vouchers was held to excite staff with fun.

“We were the only money lender with staff working from home. We closed half of the branches, but there were no customer complaints. We balanced staff welfare with customer needs,’’ Shen says.

Referring to ESG initiatives, Shen says environmental projects include paperless measures such as e-statements, e-channels, iPads for application submission, and so on. PrimeCredit sponsors events and contributes to financial inclusion.

Warning: You have to repay you loans. Don’t pay any intermediaries. Complaint Hotline: 2111 2999 Money Lender’s Licence Number: 775/2022