FUNDING SOCIETIES, MONEYMATCH TIE UP
Collaboration to broaden SMEs’ access to alternative financial services
KUALA LUMPUR
FUNDING Societies and MoneyMatch, two leading local financial technology (fintech) startups, have announced an official strategic partnership to broaden access to alternative financial services for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Funding Societies, Malaysia’s first and largest peer-to-peer (P2P) financing platform, will support efforts to build awareness for MoneyMatch, a crossborder money transfer platform approved by Bank Negara Malaysia.
In turn, MoneyMatch will refer clients in need of business financing to Funding Societies.
The arrangement is subject to SME customers’ consent.
“This is a very exciting partnership. It is a first between platforms regulated by Bank Negara and the Securities Commission (SC).
“Through the collaboration, we aim to drive greater adoption of value-added fintech services to more Malaysian businesses, particularly to smaller enterprises, which are typically underserved,” said Funding Societies Malaysia chief executive officer Wong Kah Meng.
The collaboration aims to provide businesses, particularly SMEs, with a wider range of options when searching for quality business financing and when performing cross-border transactions.
For example, an SME making a purchase of raw materials or inventory from overseas can utilise joint fintech solutions from both startups.
The SME can obtain working capital financing with no collateral requirements from Funding Societies to fund the purchase, while also executing remittance payments with lower fees and better exchange rates through MoneyMatch.
The partnership also supports initiatives from the SC and Bank Negara to digitise financial solutions.
Funding Societies connects SMEs with investors through an online marketplace, thereby increasing their access to financing.
By investing in SMEs, investors could earn returns of up to 14 per cent per year, which is higher than fixed deposits, bonds, and other traditional instruments.
Meanwhile, SMEs can obtain up to RM500,000 in working capital financing to expand their business through a fast and simple online-based process.
SMEs do not need to provide collateral as part of the financing requirements, while interest costs are minimised due to short financing tenures.
According to estimates cited by the SC, the SME sector has a financing gap of more than RM80 billion. Market-based financing options like Funding Societies can provide alternative solutions to address the needs of Malaysian SMEs.
Funding Societies, currently the largest P2P financing platform in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, has operations in Singapore and Indonesia.
Regionally, Funding Societies — which is recognised and regulated by the Securities Commission — has disbursed more than RM300 million in working capital financing to SMEs across more than 2,000 deals.
MoneyMatch is a Malaysian grown fintech startup approved by Bank Negara in the FinTech Sandbox, delivering innovative solutions in cross-border payments and peer-to-peer currency exchange enabled with their proprietary eKYC system.
Since its official launch in October, over RM38 million in transactions have already been processed, with a coverage of 56 countries globally for their Transfer platform.