7 FinTech announcements for SME financing amid COVID-19 times in Asia and Australasia
By Edil Corneille
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) generally face the brunt when it comes to access to finance and availing credit facilities. This is because financial institutions are wary of providing loans due to the lack of collateral by these businesses. It is the notion that SMEs are usually the first to be impacted by an economic downturn as these businesses are considered to be the most vulnerable as opposed to large companies. This has not stopped companies in Asia and Australasia to roll out solutions to facilitate SME financing as the significance of this area can have propagation effects. Here are the 7 announcements made by companies in recent months for the underserved businesses.
Avenue
Sydney CBD-based Avenue is preparing to launch a dedicated bank for SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) after securing former Commonwealth Bank (CBA) executive George Confos as its CEO and launching a Series B funding round. Avenue is the brainchild of entrepreneurs, Colin Porter and Dale Hurley, who founded CreditorWatch, a credit reporting bureau that is said to have disrupted a $4 billion duopoly held by Equifax and Illion.
Multiply Capital
IFS Capital’s subsidiary – Multiply Capital, a company based in Singapore, has launched its new website providing financing for micro and small businesses in the country. The set up allows Multiply to offer financing to businesses typically deemed too small for financing. These include start-ups, sole-proprietorships/ partnerships, and other small enterprises, where the average working capital requirement is ~S$30-50k.
InstaReM
Singapore-based Nium’s InstaReM has launched the solution BizPay, which is a new FinTech service that helps Singaporean SMEs maximise their cash flow. BizPay utilises credit limits in corporate cards and converts them into working capital to help businesses make payments, including commercial rent or utilities or other supplier payments. Businesses continue to enjoy commercial benefits that may be available on their corporate credit cards, such as membership rewards or cash rebates.
Hong Leong Bank (HLB)
Hong Leong Bank (HLB) has enhanced and simplified the application and approval process for SME loans so that they can fast track the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) Special Relief Facility (SRF). This will ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) receive the necessary financial relief in a timely manner.
HPDLendScape
HPDLendScape, a secured lending platform vendor announced a new supply chain finance (SCF) solution which makes the onboarding process for lenders simple and fast to support buyers and suppliers, thereby giving Asian businesses more streamlined access to working capital during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
SelFin and IA
SelFin India Financial Services (SelFin) and Innovative Assessments (IA) have signed a partnership agreement to collaborate with regards to improving the financial inclusion situation of micro-enterprises in India using psychometric analysis. SelFin is a registered Non-Banking Financial Institution based in Mumbai and has incorporated Tel Aviv-based IA’s psychometric analysis as an additional data source into its proprietary risk assessment methodology. This will help to further enable credit access to India’s more than 60 million micro-enterprises.
GetCapital and Q2 Cloud Lending
North Sydney-based GetCapital, a non-bank lender, has adapted Q2’s suite of working capital products. The solutions by Austin-based Q2, a provider of digital transformation solutions for banking and lending, is expected to accelerate application acceptance and funding to small and medium enterprises under the Australian Coronavirus Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Guarantee Scheme.
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