Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad introduced a new Shariah-compliant financing option through its Digital SME solution to assist micro and small businesses, especially those operating in the halal industry or those who prefer an Islamic-permissible funding.
The quick and easy-to-apply fully digital financing alternative — based on the Islamic concept of commodity murabahah (tawarruq), enables micro and small businesses to obtain up to RM500,000 financing conveniently.
It is applicable to businesses that have been in operations for at least three years with a minimum annual turnover of RM500,000.
Alliance Bank Head of Digital SME Senior Vice President Kevin Shum said: “We are now expanding to offer fully Shariah-compliant products as an additional option for business owners to meet their financing needs on top of the conventional digital SME loan. With its fast and simple digital application process, business owners can apply and track the application status anytime, anywhere. This year, we aim to provide RM200 million in digital SME financing to help business owners grow via our Digital SME solutions.”
In addition to financial assistance, Alliance Bank supports business owners via a broad range of digital solutions to help them manage and grow their business more efficiently, and access new markets.
The Bank’s BizSmart® Solution Portal provides over 200 partners’ products and services to help businesses reach more customers, digitise and adopt sustainable practices at preferential rates by leveraging on the Bank’s strong SME network. What’s more, the Bank will be launching new products catered to micro and small businesses’ needs in the coming months.
“As a Bank that has long supported Malaysian businesses, we understand that micro and small businesses, particularly new businesses, may find it challenging to obtain a business line of credit as they may not have established a good credit history,” said Shum, adding, the bank offers a micro convenience line to help them meet their short-term cash flow needs, and at the same time help them build credit history. With a healthy business credit profile, it will be possible for owners of SME initiatives to attain bigger lines of credit for their future business expansion needs.
Alliance Bank’s Digital SME Shariah-compliant financing option enables business owners to improve their working capital with a pre-set ceiling profit rate for all financing structures. It offers a tenure of up to seven years with a variable rate from as low as base financing rate + 3.50% per annum (with the base financing rate currently at 5.92% per annum).
