DBS Bank unveils hassle-free, online SME loans

Mumbai: Driven by its constant focus on building seamless, intuitive and hassle-free banking solutions for customers, DBS Bank India today unveiled its online credit solutions platform - DBS Digital Business Loans for SMEs. This segment-flagship platform from DBS improves the ease of accessing business credit for the entire spectrum of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, offering credit up to INR 20Cr.

The loan application process is simple and can be done online by just uploading bank statements, and IT Returns (financial statements for loans above INR 5Cr). The data-driven platform then pulls in credit-related information at the backend and runs a financial health analysis on the overall business of the applicant. The platform is enabled to auto-generate an e-offer letter if the lending criteria is met.

Enterprises with a turnover of up to INR 25Cr can receive in-principle approval for loans of up to INR 5Cr within 24 hours* subject to completion of the loan application and fulfilment of the lending criteria. Subsequently, a final e-offer (subject to a successful verification process) for credit up to INR 5Cr for a company with a turnover up to INR 25Cr, can be sanctioned in just 5 working days*. Once the customer accepts the offer, DBS starts the valuation process. The disbursal can be made in as less as a week after the final sanction. DBS offers both, a DBS Relationship Manager (RM) - initiated self-serve (in select locations) as well as an RM-assisted credit application on the DBS Digital Business Loans platform.

Commenting on the offering, Niraj Mittal, Managing Director & Country Head - Institutional Banking Group, DBS Bank India, said, “It is more important now than ever to support our customers, especially the micro & small enterprises, to navigate the challenging business environment. DBS Digital Business Loans proudly underscores the bank's commitment to supporting lives and livelihoods. We are attempting to leverage the true potential of our online credit platform, and have continued to disburse credit, even amidst the lockdown. DBS has also been offering the 'Guaranteed Emergency Credit Line' scheme in line with the government's Covid-19 relief efforts.”

“Boosting credit access to businesses has been our top priority, and DBS Digital Business Loans for SMEs is another step towards reshaping the future of business banking by leveraging digitalisation. DBS will continue to support enterprises to unlock new opportunities through this solution. DBS Digital Business Loans further strengthens our existing suite of business banking offerings, such as Payments & Collections, Remittances, Forex Solutions including FX Booking & FX Forwards, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Integration, APIs, Trade Solutions including DBS Network Letter of Credit, etc.”, Mittal added.

Speaking about the nuances of the online credit platform, Sudarshan Chari, Head - Business Banking, DBS Bank India, said, “We always strive to sanction the adequate quantum of funding with competitive interest rates, to help customers grow their businesses. Leveraging DBS Bank's technology prowess, we are setting a new industry benchmark with DBS Digital Business Loans. Through this platform, we are sanctioning e-loan offers in a matter of hours, significantly faster than the current market standard of over a week. We require minimal documentation for our decisioning and have even disbursed loans, end-to-end, in under 10 days*. The process is completely transparent, and the borrower can check the status of their loan application online, anytime.”

The bank has completed the pilot run for the DBS Digital Business Loans platform in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Surat, Nashik, Kolhapur, and Kolkata. Loans worth INR 1,000Cr have already been disbursed via the platform to various businesses engaged in trading, manufacturing and services in these markets. Going forward, the bank will also offer the online credit platform to businesses in Gurugram, Noida, Navi Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Nagpur, and Bhubaneswar.

With the establishment of a locally incorporated, wholly-owned subsidiary in 2019 - DBS Bank India Limited, the bank has accelerated its growth plans in the country and is building a greater scale by adopting a 'phygital' model. The bank has a total of 35 branches in 25 cities across India. DBS has designed end-to-end digitised solutions to seamlessly interweave banking into everyday life of customers by making it a part of their ecosystem. In keeping with this ethos, it has harnessed the power of technology to design solutions that make banking simpler and invisible for time-strapped business owners. The solutions eliminate the need for cumbersome documentation and offer a seamless and paperless banking experience.