UOB Malaysia and SJPP tie-up to offer government-guaranteed financing to SMEs

United Overseas Bank Malaysia (UOB) has partnered with Syarikat Jaminan Pembiayaan Perniagaan (SJPP), an administrator and manager of credit guarantee schemes under Malaysia’s Ministry of Finance, to offer government-guaranteed financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME).Under the agreement, SMEs can obtain collateral-free loans of up to RM1 million through the SJPP-UOB BizMoney financial solution, twice the amount available to customers under the existing UOB BizMoney package. SJPP will guarantee up to 70% of the loan through its Working Capital Guarantee Scheme and Services Sector Guarantee Scheme.According to UOB's research, more than half of Malaysian SMEs expect to grow their revenue in 2018. "While the majority aim to expand overseas, many also plan to invest in technology infrastructure to help them drive business performance," Wong Kim Choong, UOB's CEO said."To help businesses capitalise on these opportunities and to help them grow, UOB Malaysia is collaborating with SJPP to provide SMEs the flexibility of obtaining additional working capital without the need for more collateral," Wong added.“We are pleased to work together with financial institutions such as UOB Malaysia to assist and to reach out to as many SMEs as possible. Our low guarantee fees between 0.5 to one per cent, coupled with the underlying sovereign guarantee, offer SMEs financing at competitive rates. This will contribute towards their growth and sustainability,” Nungsari Ahmad Radhi, principal officer of SJPP said.This partnership follows UOB Malaysia's similar tie-up with business software provider SAP earlier this year, to offer the bank's SME consumers with a cloud-based integrated digital business solution known as UOB SmartBusiness.