SME Micro Loan Singapore: What it is and How it Works
To help promote the business startups in Singapore, the government provides an SME loan known as the SME micro loan. This has not only been helping to promote the business environment of Singapore, but it has also been a significant influence on the small to medium business owners who are looking to grow further from where they are. So, if you also have recently established a small business, then you could apply for the SME micro loan to help flourish your business to a bigger extent.
The SME microloan is a loan provided by the Enterprise Singapore to the newly established businesses. Depending on the requirements, a company can get a loan up to S$100,000, with an interest rate depending on the risk of involvement of the business, expect about 6.5% to 7.5% per annum. The enterprise will have to repay the loan under four years. The money can be used in the day to day operations and technology equipments required for the business.
Requirements
To be eligible for the SME grant, an enterprise should fulfill the following requirements:
- The enterprise should be registered and operated in Singapore.
- The annual sales of the company can be no more than S$1 million.
- The enterprise can only have up to 10 employees.
- At least 30% of the shareholders must be Singaporeans.
If your business complies with the following requirements, then you could move further to gain the SME micro loan.
Applying for the SME Micro Loan
To apply for the SME micro loans, first, you will have to ascertain that your business is eligible for the loan. For this, you will need some documents.
Things You Will Need
- Business profile from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA).
- Bank Statements showing the financial situation of your business.
- Audited Accounts and Certified Financial Statements
- Personal income tax assessment of the directors and the owner.
- Other certified financial statements and proofs as required by the financial institution you are applying for the loan.
Application
After you have all the things mentioned above, then you can proceed to get the application done.
Here are the steps for filling the application:
- Click on this link to download and save the Local Enterprise Finance Scheme application form.
- Fill out the form; it is on pdf, so you should download Adobe Reader.
- For details and guide about filing the application form, you could refer to this link.
After that, you could approach to any of these financial institutions that have been participating in the program.
| Institution | Contact Number |
| DBS Bank Limited | 1800 222 2200 |
| Ethoz Capital Limited | 6654 7799 |
| Hong Leong Finance Limited | 1800 3388 338 |
| IFS Capital Limited | 6270 7711 |
| Malayan Banking Berhad | 1800 777 0022 |
| ORIX Leasing Singapore Limited | 6339 3622 |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited | 6538 1111 |
| RHB Bank Berhad | 1800 323 0100 |
| Sing Investments & Finance Limited | 6305 0300 |
| United Overseas Bank Limited | 1800 2266 121 |
Processing Time
Generally, depending on the circumstances, the processing of an application may take three working weeks or more.
After the application has been approved, you will receive the required funds and repayments are going to start after a month of you getting the loan.
I hope this will help you. I hope sincerely hope that both, this article and the SME Micro loan will help your business.
