News
Jun 19, 2018
AltFi reports that SME Finance Forum member BNP Paribas Asset Management has completed its first UK loan on its new SME lending platform. The loan, a six year senior unsecured amortising loan, was made to a specialist recruitment services company based in the West of England. BNPP AM says investing in its SME alternative financing offers its...
Jun 15, 2018
SME Finance Forum member CreditEase, a Beijing-based leading FinTech conglomerate in China, announced that its product ShangTongDai won “The Best API Product Initiative, Application or Programme” award and became the only non-bank financial services company winning The Asian Banker Transaction Award. The fellow winners of The Asian Banker Awards...
Jun 13, 2018
Washington, D.C., June 13, 2018 – Khan Bank became the newest member of the SME Finance Forum, a global membership network that brings together financial institutions, technology companies, and development finance institutions to share knowledge, spur innovation, and promote the growth of SMEs. “200 million businesses worldwide need financing to...
Jun 11, 2018
During the Africa SME Finance Forum Conference held in Nairobi May 15-16, the IFC SME Banking Practice launched a short survey to hear from banks on how they navigate the world of SME Banking, what are some of the challenges that banks are facing and what will the future of SME Banking look like. Everyone who responds to the survey will receive a...
Jun 07, 2018
SME Finance Forum member ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank by consolidated assets, announcee that it has successfully on-boarded over 250 corporates on its blockchain platform for domestic and international trade finance, the most by any bank in India. With this, leading Indian corporates, including ones from the ‘S&P BSE 100...
Jun 06, 2018
The Africa SME Finance Forum 2018 provided more than 140 participants access to seven study visits to financial institutions and fintechs that have best in class, innovative ways of serving SMEs clients. The study tour took place in Nairobi, Kenya on May 14. One of the visits was to the Mastercard Labs for Financial Inclusion, which is one of...
Jun 04, 2018
SME Finance Forum BRAC Bank has celebrated the first anniversary of the launch of its comprehensive Women’s Banking solutions ‘TARA’. Selim RF Hussain, Managing Director and CEO, BRAC Bank, and senior officials were present at the programme to mark the occasion at the bank’s head office on May 8. BRAC Bank is the first bank to launch a women...
May 25, 2018
On May 23, SME Finance Forum member Ant Financial Services Group signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China Everbright Bank Co., Ltd and Everbright Technology Co., Ltd., a fintech subsidiary of China Everbright Group, to facilitate China Everbright Bank's digital transformation. Under the agreement, Ant Financial will share its financial-...
May 21, 2018
SME Finance Forum member and leading Colombian bank Bancolombia, has unveiled a new platform designed to offer better services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country. Called Negocios Pyme (or, in English, SME Business), the client portal was rolled out on May 15 to offer an overview of the available services offered to SMEs by...
May 17, 2018
The African Development Bank has approved US$ 20 million facility to boost lending to small and medium-sized enterprises in Liberia. The loan, approved by the Board of Directors of the Bank on May 16, is a trade finance package for three Liberian commercial banks: Liberian Bank for Development and Investment; International Bank of Limited and...