ANEXT Bank launches new initiative to drive financial inclusion for SMEs

By Leandra Monteiro

ANEXT Bank, a digital wholesale bank incorporated in Singapore and a wholly owned subsidiary of Ant Group, unveiled its latest initiative to drive further industry collaboration as part of its mission to enable inclusive financing for SMEs.

The initiative aims to improve and scale embedded finance for SMEs, making it easier for businesses to access financing, as well as to monitor and manage it on platforms where they run their business.

The ANEXT Programme for Industry Specialists is open to the participation of all e-commerce marketplaces, FinTech companies and digital solutions providers who support SMEs’ cross-border operations through digital-based services or platforms. ANEXT Bank will collaborate with these industry specialists to expand the breadth of service offerings for SMEs on their platforms to include digital financial services offered by ANEXT Bank.

This will allow SMEs to have one-stop access to a more comprehensive suite of services, and to gain a consolidated view of their business such as wallet balance, loan amount and repayment status, etc.

Speaking of the initiative, Toh Su Mei, the Chief Executive Officer of ANEXT Bank said, “With our secure banking capabilities and first-hand knowledge on what it takes to do business digitally, ANEXT Bank is well positioned to help partners unlock more growth opportunities by enabling access to financing to SMEs on their platforms. At the same time, industry specialists are domain experts in their respective fields and they can provide deep insights on the challenges and needs of SMEs. Together, we can create unique use cases and solve financing pain points for SMEs at scale.”

FinTech company IN Financial Technologies and Business Process Management provider Bizmann System are among the first to take part in the programme. The two partners combined are serving close to 15,000 SMEs.

As part of the ANEXT Programme for Industry Specialists launch, ANEXT Bank provided a preview of the ANEXT Business Loan to complement its existing ANEXT Business Account. The ANEXT Business Loan is a fuss-free and flexible unsecured financing solution with two repayment options “pay-per-use” and “pay monthly” available at competitive rates. The minimum loan amount available starts at S$5,000.