Aeon microfinance booms with mall on horizon
When Sor Songheng, a manager for an accountancy firm, wanted to replace his cheap Nokia phone a few months ago, he set his heart on a top-of-the-line iPhone 5S worth $780—nearly his entire monthly salary of $800. But instead of scrimping and saving for months to be able to afford the iPhone, as he might have done in the past, he simply drove to Bayon Phone Shop on Sihanouk Boulevard, filled out an application for a loan from Aeon Microfinance, and walked away with the phone less than 24 hours later. … Aeon Microfinance entered the Cambodian market just two years ago, but its square purple-and-orange logo is already ubiquitous in retail storefronts, with more than 1,000 Aeon-affiliated merchants offering on-the-spot microloans to buy household appliances, electronics and motorcycles. Unlike traditional microfinance institutions (MFIs), which provide credit to help people in impoverished areas kick-start small businesses, Aeon is unapologetically consumer-oriented, and rapidly moving the microfinance sector away from its roots. During the first four months of this year, Aeon disbursed $6.5 million in new consumer loans, a 195 percent increase compared with the same period in 2013. The firm’s loan disbursements rocketed from $3.1 million in 2012 to $14.7 million last year, according to Daisuke Maeda, managing director of Aeon Microfinance. These numbers are set to grow even more this year, as Aeon Microfinance’s parent company is opening a $205-million shopping center on Sothearos Boulevard next month. The 68,000-square-meter Aeon Mall will feature an ice rink, a cinema, 190 shops and an Aeon Microfinance office where customers can take out microloans to buy anything from refrigerators to rice cookers. …
George Styllis
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/aeon-microfinance-booms-with-mall-on-horizon-58122/
