Representatives from Standard Chartered Bank and MISA at the launch of their digital financing for SMEs via the MISA Lending platform. — Photo courtesy of the bank

Standard Chartered Bank announced on Friday the launch of a strategic partnership with information technology company MISA JSC to offer unsecured invoice financing to small and medium-sized enterprises at competitive interest rates and straight-through processes.

The first partnership of its kind combines MISA’s pioneering use of cloud-based technologies to simplify and improve the efficiency of their clients’ processes and Standard Chartered’s global expertise in business banking and financing capabilities.

Speaking at the launch, Nguyen Xuan Hoang, vice chairman of MISA, said: “The cooperation between MISA and Standard Chartered Bank will provide much-needed funding to hundreds of thousands of underbanked SMEs without collateral via MISA Lending.”

Harmander Mahal, head of the bank’s consumer, private, and business banking for Viet Nam and Asia, said: “We’re excited to be pioneers in this space that promises to have a significant positive impact on SMEs in Viet Nam. By providing SMEs with more effective access to financing solutions, we can accelerate broader financial inclusion and further contribute to the economy’s growth through this important segment.”

The programme’s target customers are SMEs in manufacturing, trading and services that require financing against e-invoices to meet their working capital requirements.

Standard Chartered will use multiple data points and digital underwriting to set suitable credit limits.

Standard Chartered has been named the “Best Retail Bank in Viet Nam” and “Best Strategic Partnership” at the 2023 Asia Trailblazer Awards by Retail Banker International.

MISA received the Outstanding ICT Company Award in 2018 from the Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organisation. — VNS