Asialink Finance Corporation reported that it has raised P1 billion from Yuanta Saving Bank and Small Business Corporation (SBC) for relending to small- and medium-scale businesses.

In a statement, Asialink said SBC, a government entity, provided P600 million while Yuanta, formerly Tongyang Saving Bank, lent P400 million.

Asialink said it lends about P1.3 billion per month to companies that find it hard to borrow from banks.

“The small and medium companies are the backbone of economies, big and small. They provide jobs in all corners of our country and help the economy grow. They are a strategic economic and social pillar and therefore should be supported,” said Asialink Chief Executive Officer Roberto Jordan.

While big as a sector, their relatively insignificant individual sizes are a bar to getting bank loans because of the tight lending policies and restrictions banks need to comply with. 

The big banks are also not designed to lend small amounts and work with hundreds of thousands of such small borrowers, Jordan said.

“Asialink fills that gap. We have more than 45,000 borrowers and our repayment rate is higher than that of banks. We charge higher than bank rates but we can approve a loan within a day for repeat clients and require fewer documentation. In the end, as their businesses grow, everybody is happy,” Jordan said.

He added that there is still so much to be done in the sector that requires at least hundreds of billion of pesos each year to help these unbanked companies.

“Asialink will continue to grow with these corporations. The more funds we raise, the more we can lend to them for their businesses to prosper,” said Jordan.