Number of loans to female entrepreneurs rises over 30% after launch of SME programme in April: OCBC
Scheme allows startups founded by women to tap financing of up to S$100,000 within the first two years of incorporation, with processing fees for such loans waived
MORE female-owned businesses in Singapore took loans from OCBC, following the launch of a programme aimed at accelerating the growth of women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in April.
The number of loans extended to female-owned businesses grew over 30 per cent in the two months after the programme’s launch, compared with the two months prior to launch.
In comparison, the number of loans extended to male-owned enterprises grew at a slower pace in the same period, at more than 20 per cent.
The updated figures were shared by OCBC group chief executive Helen Wong at a networking event that is part of the bank’s Women Unlimited programme, held on Friday (Aug 16) at the St Regis Singapore hotel. The initiative was previously known as the OCBC Women Entrepreneurs Programme.
“As part of this programme, we expanded our SME sustainable finance framework to include a new category of social loans,” said Wong. “This will make financing even more accessible for women entrepreneurs.”
Under the programme, startups founded by women can tap financing of up to S$100,000 within the first two years of incorporation, with processing fees for such loans waived.
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They will also have access to customised educational workshops, along with opportunities to network and be mentored by successful female business leaders.
“It goes without saying that in many of the industries, the business networks are... male-dominated,” Linus Goh, head of global commercial banking at OCBC, told The Business Times.
Providing budding female entrepreneurs with access to a network of peers who have “done it before and done it well” will therefore be beneficial, added Goh.
To support their cross-border expansion journeys, OCBC will also facilitate opportunities for female entrepreneurs to attend networking events in Malaysia and Hong Kong, and vice versa.
Regionally, the programme will be rolled out in Malaysia by the end of the year, and launched in Hong Kong by the first half of 2025.
Following Friday’s inaugural networking event, OCBC intends to hold these on a quarterly basis. The next session, to be conducted in October, will be themed on digital transformation.
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