Fundaztic, CTOS partner to educate importance of credit scores in P2P financing
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian P2P financing platform Fundaztic is working together with CTOS to introduce efforts to increase members’ awareness of their credit score and cultivate good credit behaviour.
Members who have obtained their CTOS score stand to be rewarded with up to RM150 to invest on the platform once they register on Fundaztic.com.
“This is a very exciting partnership as it is the first collaboration between a credit reference agency and a fintech company. Through this partnership, we aim to drive greater acceptance to alternative financing and investment in the country,” said Fundaztic’s chief executive officer, Kristine Ng in a statement.
SME owners should be aware of both their business and individual credit scores by registering with CTOS before applying for business financing with Fundaztic.
This collaboration aims to educate businesses, especially SMEs and individual business owners, on the importance of credit scores when applying for financing.
“We are pleased to partner with Fundaztic to create awareness on the importance of CTOS Scores in P2P financing. This partnership marks another significant step towards transforming the financing ecosystem into a transparent one and leveraging on technology to enhance access to financing and investment for businesses and individuals,” added CTOS Group chief executive officer Dennis Martin.
“As part of our continuous efforts to promote financial literacy in Malaysia, we already have over 800,000 consumers signed up with CTOS to check their own credit score.
“We also want to educate consumers on the P2P framework in Malaysia through rewarding good credit behaviour with exclusive offers from Fundaztic.”
The partnership also supports initiatives from the SC to drive alternative financing. Fundaztic is a fully online platform that connects underserved SMEs and investors, thus increasing SMEs access to financing.
The Securities Commission had, at the announcement of the P2P financing licenses, stated that the financing gap in the country stands at over RM80 billion and alternative funding would be helpful to reduce such gaps especially for the underserved start- ups, micro and small businesses.
Through Fundaztic’s simple and efficient online application process, Malaysian SMEs and start- ups can receive up to RM200,000 of working capital financing without providing any collateral.
At the same time, with a minimum investment of only RM50, investors can earn returns of up to 23 per cent in effective interest rates per annum, which is currently higher than fixed deposit rates and most short-term investment vehicles.
As in any investment, there are risks involved, but the low entry barrier of just RM50 to start investing allows even the smallest of investors to diversify these risks over time by investing in multiple notes.
“P2P investing is not a get rich quick scheme. It is actually patient investing whereby investors should not put all their capital into just a few notes. The more the capital is spread over time, the lower the risks involved.
“If the investors practice reinvestments using their monthly returns which is credited in their Trust account, they make their capital work even harder and lower their risks more,” added Ng.
“This is why we are excited over this collaboration with CTOS to enhance awareness on credit score by rewarding good behaviours with the ability to add value to their investments,” she further elaborated.
Since its launch in July 2017 Fundaztic has helped more than 300 SMEs obtain funding amounting to more than RM27 million and current defaults stand at just 1.3 per cent of the overall base.