Funding Societies,  a Peer-toPeer (P2P) financing platform in Malaysia, has announced a partnership with Curlec, a homegrown FinTech company specialising in direct debit payments.

Funding Societies will be the first partner to adopt Curlec’s online Direct Debit system. With an integrated system, the repayment process for Funding Societies’ SME clients will be automated, increasing customer efficiency and lowering processing time.

Convenience for SMEs

With the partnership, Funding Societies’ SME clients will have a choice to get rid of their cheques and paperwork to process their repayments. Most repayment methods require clunky software and sizeable teams to manage the operational process. Curlec’s Direct Debit system saves cost and decreases operational complexity. Local SMEs will benefit from a hassle-free customer experience when performing monthly repayments.

Lower Risk of Defaults and Late Repayments

Though Funding Societies boasts a 0% default rate, it is not uncommon for there to be instances where SMEs delay payments due to operational issues from their CFOs/CEOs not being around to sign the cheques, to simply being so understaffed that they miss out on processing one or two payments.

Having an opt-in automated repayment system eliminates many of these factors out of the equation, which ultimately translates a better sense of reliability for Funding Societies’ investors.

P2P Lending, a Needed Solution to Address Malaysia’s SME Financing Gap

According to estimates cited by Securities Commission (SC), the SME sector in Malaysia has a financing gap of more than RM80 billion. Yet domestic SMEs comprise 97% of Malaysian businesses and contribute to 65% of national employment. Market-based, technology-driven financing options such as Funding Societies can provide alternative solutions to address the needs of SMEs in Malaysia.

Mr. Wong Kah Meng, CEO of Funding Societies Malaysia, said “We are proud to be the first P2P financing platform to use an online Direct Debit system for our SME users. Curlec’s system offers an option to automate SME’s repayment. With an efficient and practical process like this, we hope to enhance customer experience. If they no longer need to process paperwork for every repayment, our users can focus more fully on developing their businesses.”

Mr. Zac Liew, Co-Founder and CEO of Curlec, stated that he was delighted to be working with Funding Societies. He said, “Going forward, Funding Societies will offer Curlec’s Direct Debit system for SME as an additional repayments method, and our Instant Pay FPX payment gateway for investor deposits. It is a great opportunity to collaborate with another local FinTech company who is committed to support SME businesses. We share the same goal: to serve SMEs currently underserved by existing financial institutions.