SMALL and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can now get access to up to S$300,000 of working capital through DBS’ new artificial intelligence (AI) driven solution, which was launched on Tuesday (Oct 18).
The bank has rolled out DBS Quick Finance to address the working capital needs of micro and small businesses, as businesses grapple with “an inflationary environment, an impending goods and services tax hike, supply chain challenges, and rising interest rates,” it said in a press statement.
The solution enables SMEs “almost instant” access to financing of up to S$300,000, DBS said. Using hyper-personalised AI and data analytics, the DBS Quick Finance application process is reduced to just one minute, and approval to one second. The bank added that instant disbursement is possible for some instances, with no additional paperwork involved.
Customers will have the flexibility to choose between an overdraft which can be drawn down when needed, or a working capital loan which will be serviced every month.
Gene Wong, the Singapore head of SME banking (micro & small segment) at DBS, noted that SMEs are “now having their mettle tested” with challenges such as inflationary pressures, supply chain headwinds and geopolitical tensions.
“DBS aims to double down on our support for micro and small enterprises by tapping on our digital capabilities and advanced data analytics to pinpoint potential financial needs with greater precision, and reach out proactively before their needs become too overwhelming or urgent,” he said.
Separately, the bank has also tied up with global accounting platform Xero to simplify loan application processes to offer SMEs personalised credit terms and loan quantums.
The partnership with Xero will enable customers to apply for working capital loans simply by sharing their day-to-day accounting transactional records direct from Xero’s platform with DBS for credit assessment purposes.
“This new feature could further benefit customers by offering personalised credit terms and loan quantums derived from a deeper understanding of SMEs’ transaction and business flow patterns,” DBS said.
Since 2020, DBS has approved over 16,000 collateral-free loans totalling more than S$7 billion to SMEs in Singapore, with over 90 per cent of these loans going to micro and small enterprises. According to the DBS SME Pulse Check Survey published earlier this year, over 85 per cent of SMEs indicated that ensuring consistent cash flow and managing costs was a key business priority in 2022.
Source: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sme/dbs-launches-ai-driven-working-capital-solution-for-smes