KUALA LUMPUR , 6 March 2018 — Hong Leong Bank (HLB) Bhd signed an agreement with Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Berhad (CGC) today, to offer financing of up to RM200 million to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
“As a community Bank, we are proud to support the growth of SMEs in Malaysia and we aim to be their one stop business management solutions provider for all their business needs,” said Dominic Fuda, the group’s managing director and chief executive officer in a statement.
Fuda said HLB recognises that the main challenge SMEs face today is obtaining unsecured loan facilities, in order to grow their businesses.
Through this portfolio scheme, SMEs who have viable business models but lack the relevant collaterals in obtaining the required credit facility can now have access to financing, he said.
“As part of our aim to be a one-stop business management solutions provider, the SMEs who secure financing from HLB through this scheme, will also have access to our business management tools such as the recently launched Connect First,” added Fuda.
HL’s Connect First is an advanced digital banking channel that is catered for companies who can easily conduct their own banking and business management services including account management, payables, receivables, liquidity management, trade, treasury management, e-investment and e-procurement.
“We are pleased to ink our maiden partnership with Hong Leong Bank, which shares the same objective as we do — assist SMEs in achieving their business goals by addressing their financial needs,” CGC president and chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Zamree Mohd Ishak said.
Zamree added that the scheme would also be made available through CGC’s imSME, Malaysia’s first online SME financing/loan referral platform that was launched by the Minister of Finance II, Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani recently.
