Southeast Asia-based online financing platform Funding Societies announced earlier this week that it teamed up with MUFG Bank Malaysia, which operates as a subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, in order to introduce a Referral Scheme Program exclusively for the banking institution’s corporate customers in the nation.
The partnership is focused on supporting the ongoing economic recovery of the nation via the referral scheme program by taking advantage of the digital financing services to supports SMEs in Malaysia.
Amongst the salient features of the Referral Scheme are extended credit terms for SME purchasers as well as accelerated payment for MUFG’s corporate customers. In addition to these options, credit will be provided to SMEs in order to fund and purchase their products and services from MUFG’s corporate customers, thus helping to extend their ability to buy at a greater volume and enhancing their margins.
This partnership aims to further build upon Funding Societies’ digital Supply Chain Financing platform, called “Silk Road,” which aims to provide quick turnaround time as well as a seamless online experience to the SMEs operating in Malaysia.
Wong Kah Meng, Co-founder and CEO of Funding Societies Malaysia, stated:
“As one of the pioneers of digital financing in the Southeast Asia region, Funding Societies remains committed to supporting SMEs’ business growth and expanding their footprint locally and globally by providing them tailor-made financing solutions to achieve their business goals. Through this referral scheme programme, Funding Societies is able to provide financing access to SMEs to support their post-pandemic recovery.”
As covered earlier this year, Funding Societies, an established digital financing platform, had teamed up with Foodpanda in order to provide short-term online financing services for registered merchants (via Foodpanda’s network).
Through the partnership, the companies had collectively disbursed RM1 million (appr. $240,000) in financing (as of June 2021), which enables local MSMEs with improved access to critical business financing opportunities. This should help with facilitating companies or businesses’ operation requirements, ongoing expansion efforts, and can also help with ensuring sustainability of the MSMEs during these uncertain times.
As many as 30,000 merchants, operating across different segments under the Foodpanda network, should be able to benefit from customized financing solutions provided by Funding Societies.
Wong Kah Meng had shared (in June 2021):
“Driven by our mutual aim to extend support to MSMEs who are undoubtedly one of the hardest hit segments during this prolonged challenging time, our partnership with Foodpanda enables the merchants under its large network to obtain collateral-free, short-term financing solutions with the added benefits of quick and seamless online application experience. The RM1 million disbursement we have achieved thus far through this collaboration alone is a testament of the MSMEs’ confidence in digital financing as a viable financing option and further reinforces our steadfast commitment to serving the underserved and unserved businesses across all segments.”
Funding Societies had made S$2 billion (appr. $1.5 billion) in disbursals of business financing to SMEs across the region (as of February 2021) as the company entered its sixth year of offering loans.
