KUALA LUMPUR: Peer-to-peer (P2P) financing platform Funding Societies aims to disburse between RM10 million and RM20 million to 100 to 200 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) here this year.
The Singapore-based Funding Societies, run by Modalku Ventures Sdn Bhd in Malaysia, is one of six P2P operators recognised and regulated by the Securities Commission.
Today, Funding Societies initiated a partnership with RHB Banking Group to support Malaysian SMEs.
RHB Bank group managing director Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli said Funding Societies would provide a platform for SMEs to borrow directly from investors.
RHB Bank would then via its subsidiary Malaysian Trustees Bhd, carry out due diligence on the SMEs to verify the destination of the funds and to ensure that they are being channelled for the right uses.
This partnership marks the first collaboration between a Malaysian bank and a P2P financing platform.
Funding Societies co-founder Kelvin Teo said individuals are given the opportunity to invest through the platform.
“Individuals can invest via this P2P platform from as low as RM100. Our platform charges a 2 per cent management fee. From a credit management perspective, we’re more stringent but more flexible than banks. We hope to attract 2,000 investors from Malaysia in the next 12 months,” he said.
Teo explained investors who park their money in P2P platforms are mostly individuals and professionals between 20 to 40 years old who have some spare cash on hand and that they are willing to invest provided they can attain high return rates at between 6 and 14 per cent.
Upholding the motto of safe growth, he said Funding Societies has grown rapidly while maintaining a default of less than 2 per cent.
As an online peer-to-business lending platform for SMEs, Fund Societies is active in Singapore and Indonesia, where it is rivalled by the likes of Capital Match and MoolahSense.
It was the first platform to secure partnerships with DBS Bank in Singapore and Bank Sinarmas in Indonesia.
Back in June 2015, Teo set up Funding Societies with Reynold Wijaya, a Harvard graduate. The duo said that their supporters are global and regional venture capital firms, Sequoia India and Alpha JWC.