This presentation outlines the following key messages:

• SME Banking can be very profitable, but performance varies considerably across the industry
• A key performance differentiator revolves around excellence in customer management
• Excellence requires strength in managing the SME client through the key stages of the customer lifecycle
• Implementing customer management effectively can be challenging, requiring infrastructure investment in four main areas
• IFC has developed a set of tools to support banks realize the latent customer management opportunity

This presentation was given during a conference jointly organized by The Arab Monetary Fund and IFC on “Building a High Performance Small Medium Enterprise Business in the Arab World” on 7-8 May 2013 in Dubai, UAE.