Funding Societies Malaysia appoints Chai Kien Poon country head

• Replaces Wong Kah Meng who moves to group chief operating officer
• Tasked to drive strategic business partnerships, day to day operations  

Funding Societies Malaysia has announced the appointment of Chai Kien Poon (pic) as country head of Malaysia. 

In a statement, the firm said in his new role, Chai will be responsible for managing day-to-day operations of Funding Societies in Malaysia. 

He will also be tasked to drive strategic business partnerships and initiatives for the largest and leading SME digital financing platform in the country, it added.

Meanwhile, Wong Kah Meng, Funding Societies Malaysia’s co-founder now assumes a regional role as group chief operating officer, Funding Societies | Modalku.

He will oversee the group’s business across Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.

According to Funding Societies, Chai has been with the fintech platform for almost four years. His past portfolios included leading the strategic investors division before heading the strategic projects and operations division. 

Prior to Funding Societies Malaysia, the chartered financial analyst and London School of Economics and Political Science alumnus was attached to the Securities Commission Malaysia, where he has experience across multiple capital market segments and led industry wide thematic reviews.

On his appointment, Chai said, “I am honored by the trust and confidence of Wong and the group’s management with this new role, and I look to continue the excellent work we have done so far.

“We have built ourselves a strong foundation since our inception in Malaysia in 2017, and I am excited to forge the future with the team as we continue to expand our products and services and extend our reach in the SME fintech landscape.”

Wong Kah Meng, group chief operating officer of Funding Societies | Modalku, said it has been a privilege to co-found and lead Funding Societies Malaysia over the last six years. 

“I am humbled by the talent and commitment of our team, and their passion for pioneering digital SME financing in Malaysia.

“Chai’s broad experience and strong track record complement the amazing team we have in Malaysia and his appointment will no doubt help us to accelerate our mission to further serve the underserved, creditworthy SMEs in the country,” said Wong.

Under Wong’s leadership, Funding Societies Malaysia, launched in 2017, claimed it is now the largest SME digital financing platform in the country, disbursing over US$296 million (RM1.4 billion), representing more than a 50% market share. 

The firm said this is spread across more than 17,000 financing deals, directly benefiting thousands of underserved Malaysian micro SMEs

Simultaneously, the platform said it maintains a current default rate of 2.3%. 

In Malaysia, Funding Societies currently offers short-term financing products encompassing invoice financing, micro-financing, business term financing, dealer financing, micro-credit line, Islamic trade financing, as well as the recently launched BizFund.

Collectively, the group claimed it has distributed US$2.3 billion (RM11 billion) through over 5 million transactions since 2015. Besides Malaysia, it also operates in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.