Gazetted hotels in Singapore: a banking study

Abstract

Hotels can be classified as a type of business which not only uses large amounts of capital, but also employs relatively large numbers of people. The present study sets out to establish how Singapore’s Gazetted hotels (i.e. those hotels which have met certain minimum criteria as laid down by the Singapore Tourism Board) select their bank. The study also sought to establish how satisfied these hotels were in relation to the various selection criteria, the range of bank and non‐bank financial products they used and the extent to which they engaged in multiple banking and why. The results showed that pricing and geographical proximity were very important when selecting a bank. Generally, banks were found to more than satisfy the respondents in relation to the selection criteria, especially in regard to geographical convenience and accuracy of bank statements. The Gazetted hotels used a range of borrowing and non‐borrowing products, indicating that they are generators of both fee and interest income for banks. A majority of the respondents engaged in multiple banking and mainly did so in order to seek out the best borrowing rates.