Maybank eyes to disburse RM4-5 bln loans via SME Digital Financing in 3 years

Community Financial Services group chief executive officer Datuk John Chong said for this year, with three and a half months left, the bank expects to disburse about RM500 million via the product.

“Overall for SMEs we are projecting to disburse about RM35 billion over the next three years and this digital platform is expected to contribute about 17 per cent of the total disbursement,” he said during the virtual media conference after the launch.

Chong expressed confidence that with this digital platform, despite using less human intervention, asset quality for SMEs is not a concern as it is very manageable.

“With data from the past together with data we have from customers on credit knowledge and technology, we can manage asset quality very well,” he said.

Meanwhile, head of Community Financial Services Malaysia, Datuk Hamirullah Boorhan, noted that to date the bank’s loan growth for the SME segment has touched 15 per cent compared with last year’s growth of 12 per cent.

“Maybank is projecting about 18 per cent growth this year from the SME segment with RM35 billion disbursement targeted in the next three years,” he said.

, with full straight-through processing (STP), from application to approval and disbursement.

Machine learning enables, the entire process from application to approval to be completed within 10 minutes, setting a new benchmark for turnaround time for SME financing in the country, said Maybank.

Group president and chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Farid Alias in his launching presentation said the new product marks the bank’s further expansion in the digital lending space, achieving yet another key milestone in its digital banking journey.

The platform is the culmination of the bank’s efforts to increase inclusivity for SME financing, he said.

He said that it has been a constant challenge for banks to design an approach for SME funding where the risks will be acceptable.

“Using our in-house data and credit knowledge while leveraging on machine learning capabilities, we are now able to measure the risks of our customers better, and provide financing even to start-ups which have only been in operation for one year,” Abdul Farid added.

All term financing offered via the platform is collateral-free, he said, to provide quick financing to ease the immediate cash flow needs of small businesses.

Maybank said it is also collaborating with Credit Guarantee Corporation (CGC) to provide guarantee coverage for its Online PGX/PGX-i financing, one of the products offered on the digital channel, with guarantee coverage of up to 70 per cent.

Registered SME businesses with turnover below RM25 million, including non-Maybank customers, are eligible to apply for financing via this platform, and approved applicants are able to obtain financing from as low as RM10,000 to a maximum of RM250,000 with a repayment tenure of up to five years, it added.