Agrobank: RM100m loans for education by year-end

AGROBANK, the rebranded national agriculture bank, expects to disburse up to RM100 million in education loans by the end of this year, said bank president Martini Osman.

The bank yesterday launched the Insani Education Loan, its first product rolled out since it was corporatised in April.

"Apart from the study loans for tertiary education, we will also be looking into extending assistance to professionals who want to improve on their other skills such e-commerce before joining the job market," she said after the launching of the loan at Universiti Kuala Lumpur.

She said the bank's steering committee has also approved a five-year business plan drawn up by Dutch agriculture lender Rabobank NA, which it has hired for its rebranding exercise.

"The first phase of the plan involves product development such as the education loan, credit and credit risk management, information technology, human resource and training.

"We expect to begin implementing the projects in stages by June next year," she added.

With its paid-up capital raised to RM1 billion, the bank also hopes to provide a wider range of financial services and compete more effectively.

Its net profit more than doubled to RM105.78 million last year.

The education loan is part of Agrobank's socio-economic development programme and enables applicants to seek 100 per cent of their financial needs from RM1,000 to RM100,000 with loan term of up to 10 years.

It is open to students entering public and private institutions of higher learning.

Agrobank has also invited other institutions of higher learning which will be commencing their academic year programmes soon, to collaborate with it.