Small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs) in Singapore may soon have easier access to financing.
A new SME credit bureau will be set up by the first half of next year to allow lenders to make better assessments on SMEs' financing applications.
This initiative is driven by the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, or ASME, with help from Infocredit D&B.
Access to financing is perennially a major stumbling block for small companies.
ASME says this is in part due to the way companies present information to the banks.
For start-ups, the financial status of business owners is often used instead, to determine the creditworthiness of the borrowing firm.
So, ASME has decided to set up a credit bureau just for these firms.
Banks usually reject financial applications without giving any reason.
