Micro-Lender To Roll Out ATM Service

Hattha Kaksekar Limited, one of the country’s largest microfinance institutions (MFIs), is in talks to become a commercial bank by 2014, an official at the micro-lender said yesterday. The move, if successful, will be in line with the Central Bank’s policy to support MFIs in diversifying their portfolios and providing more services. Speaking on the sidelines of a signing ceremony where it was announced that the MFI would be rolling out an ATM service from December, Hattha’s CEO Hout Ieng Tong said the board of directors was currently in discussions to become a commercial bank. “At this point, we are discussing the option with our partners to become a bank,” he said. “We are not yet entirely sure when we would open as a bank, but I think it would be in 2014.”…