SME Corp to disburse US$2.3 million to pandemic-stricken SMEs through microLEAP

• Borrowers can raise low-cost financing from RM50,000 to RM 500,000
• microLEAP appointed financial intermediary under SME Corp’s Digital Financing Initiative 

Shariah-compliant peer-to-peer (P2P) financing platform microLEAP has been appointed by SME Corporation Malaysia (SME Corp) as the financial intermediary under its Digital Financing Initiative (DFI) pilot project. 

The collaboration will see SME Corp disburse US$2.3 million (RM 10 million) worth of Shariah-compliant financing to micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs) through a readily available, fully online platform that provides an array of Shariah-compliant financing services.

​​[RM1 = US$0.237]

Although banks have introduced a variety of solutions to aid businesses, more needs to be done to reach out to MSMEs that make up 98.5% of registered businesses in Malaysia, the P2P financing company said. 

Through a modular platform based on microLEAP’s current infrastructure, SME Corp is able to offer digital financial assistance to MSMEs adversely affected by Covid-19 as a means to kickstart their businesses and help them through these challenging times.

Tunku Danny Nasaifuddin Mudzaffar, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of microLEAP said the company is pleased to partner with SME Corp to reach out to businesses and assist them in raising the financing they require. 

“With SME Corp being an agency under the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (MEDAC), we are thrilled to be given this opportunity to assist the government to facilitate this shariah-compliant financing to more businesses in need,” he added.

Rizal Nainy, CEO of SME Corp said the company believes that it is the duty of all parties, be it public or private, to assist vulnerable businesses through these uncertain times. 

“MSMEs in particular have been severely affected by the disruptions to cash flow. As the bedrock of our economy, it is important to ensure that these businesses are able to raise funds in a timely manner alongside reliable, online and shariah-compliant platforms such as microLEAP,” he added.

MSMEs that qualify will be given access to an online payment schedule, automated payment reminders and an end-to-end default management system. With this, Issuers (borrowers) are able to raise low-cost financing from RM50,000 to RM 500,000 with the option of monthly repayments between 1 to 36 months. 

Added to that, these funds will be disbursed to the business within four working days (excluding public holidays), upon approval and completion of the Islamic Commodity Murabahah Trade.

MSMEs need to apply to be an SME Corp. Malaysia member to qualify for the DFI program: Interested parties can register at https://smereg.smecorp.gov.my/reg/ or to learn more about this DFI, heret: https://www.smecorp.gov.my/index.php/ and https://smecorp.microleapasia.com