Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS) has, on March 31, announced that they will be supporting Singapore banks to pilot loan solutions in a bid to help small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) merchants looking to expand their business or address any unplanned cash flow needs.
The solutions aim to provide flexible repayment plans and quick loan application approvals to support these small business owners.
Under the pilot, payment-related data for participating SME merchants is available from NETS to local banks, which will allow loan applications to be conducted in a more efficient manner.
The approval time can also be shortened. Through the solution, banks will also have more insight in terms of offering relevant financial solutions to NETS’s SME merchants.
Lawrence Chan, group CEO of NETS says, “NETS is proud to support the local banks to offer this value-add service to our merchants.”
“We have the privilege of having a relevant and significant share of most merchants’ digital payments. This allows NETS to provide insights to help identify merchant needs and potentially speed up the underwriting process. We are constantly looking at how we can provide merchants with solutions and tools to adapt and thrive in today’s business climate,” he adds.
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During the pilot phase, the data and feedback gathered from participating merchants will be used to gauge the market response as well as to refine the product.
When officially launched, NETS will work on enabling hassle-free payments with participating banks, whereby a part of the SME merchants’ daily takings will be used to pay for the loan instalments via NETS’ point-of-sales (POS) terminals.
This automation will reduce administrative time, leaving SMEs with more time to run their business.
