Chai Kien Poon, Country Head, Funding Societies Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR, 23 August 2022 - Funding Societies, the largest SME digital financing platform in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, announces its latest enhanced product to support creditworthy underserved Malaysian small, and medium enterprises (SMEs) returning to their full economic potential as markets recover following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic with the launch of BizFund, its latest term financing.
Its zero-collateral BizFund provides Malaysian SMEs with financing up to RM300,000 with repayment up to 18 months. The simple, hassle-free submission process is fast and initiated through Funding Societies’ online platform. The product is offered for SMEs that have been in operation for at least 12 months, with a minimum of 30% local shareholding by Malaysians.
Country Head of Funding Societies Malaysia, Chai Kien Poon, said, “BizFund caters to SMEs with annual revenue from RM1 million who are looking to grow their business by quickly raising sufficient capital to manage cash flow. They can leverage on BizFund’s zero collateral, hassle-free submission process with disbursement within seven days to enhance their capital fueling business operations and time-sensitive expansion.”
One major challenge faced by SMEs when seeking financing facilities is the potentially long financing disbursement process. The application process is often complicated involving various documents which must be certified and submitted manually. In addition to that, most SMEs find their application turned down because they lack the collateral needed. This places SMEs in a tight spot as without adequate financing, SMEs face insufficient cash flow to maintain operations or grow their business.
Chai continued, “BizFund is developed to address these challenges SMEs face when they seek financing to grow their business. By making this business financing facility zero-collateral with fast disbursement, SMEs can tap into the recovery market’s potential which would otherwise be hampered by the lack of business capital. Malaysia’s domestic economy is projected to grow between 5.3% to 6.3%; after a tough two years coupled with delayed payments as customers stretch their ringgit and supply chains are disrupted, access to funds is imperative for SMEs to benefit from that growth as well as contribute towards it.”
“Funding Societies, staying true to our mission of enabling the growth of ASEAN SMEs through digital financial services, will continue to identify tailor-made opportunities meeting the needs of SMEs in each market we operate in,” summed Chai.
Despite having been in the business for more than 30 years, RGP Corporation (M) Sdn Bhd still encounters challenges when it comes to obtaining financing from traditional financing institutions. This led him to take up financing from Funding Societies.
Dato’ Frankie Foo, Managing Director of RGP Group of Companies, said, “The turnaround time for financing facilities presented was a stumbling block for an SME like RGP Group of Companies. This is on top of other challenges faced by the industry like port congestion and the exponential rise in freight charges which causes delays in collection. When we turned to Funding Societies, we were satisfied by their speed. They guided us through the application process. This was followed by fast approval and disbursements of the funds. As a result, we were able to manage that collection delay to a shorter and medium time frame.”
Not all SMEs were adversely impacted by the pandemic. There were businesses who, in turn, needed to cope with higher demand. Gary Chin Chee Hong, Executive Director of Promo Partners Sdn Bhd, remarked, “We were fortunate that our clients were not as affected during the pandemic. As retailers, they were categorized as ‘essential service providers’. So, we received several high-value projects. To cope with that demand, we turned to Funding Societies whom we have worked with since 2019 for business term financing. We were able to increase our capacity and deliver the projects.”
Meanwhile, Wilson Low, Founder and Director of Wilstech Sdn Bhd, echoed the sentiment, “During the pandemic, we saw growing demand which contributed to the growth of our business. However, we had difficulties with traditional financial institutions which struggled to understand our business model and the nature of our industry, making it difficult for us to obtain financing from them. We were fortunate to learn of a digital financing platform like Funding Societies. The entire application process is much faster, seamless, and straightforward. Through the business term financing facilities, we now have consistent additional working capital which in turn allows us to take on more jobs. This, in turn, increased our revenue and profits.”
Funding Societies continues to lead the SME digital financing industry by disbursements value. Across the five markets it operates in, the platform has disbursed over RM10 billion in business financing through over 5 million financing deals to date. This is made possible by the platform’s ability to cater to diverse SMEs’ business needs while addressing the typical challenges they face when applying for financing such as collateral requirements, physical documentation submission, and lengthy processes.
For more information on Funding Societies Malaysia’s BizFund, please visit https://fundingsocieties.com.my/bizfund.
