OCBC Bank, CGC tie up to provide RM100mil portfolio guarantee

KUALA LUMPUR: OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Bhd is collaborating with the Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Bhd (CGC) to provide up to RM100 million in portfolio guarantee (PG) this year.

In a joint statement today, the companies said with the collaboration, OCBC Malaysia has surpassed the RM1 billion mark in PG schemes with CGC.

The joint statement said the current PG tranches involve RM50 million in conventional and a further RM50 million in Islamic banking facilities, which the latter would be made available through the bank’s Islamic banking subsidiary, OCBC Al-Amin.

‘’The PG schemes are partially secured by CGC at 70 per cent of the facility amount, with a tenure of up to five years. The financing amount made available to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) is up to RM600,000, with no collateral required,’’ said OCBC Bank and CGC.

The statement also said that for the first time, the tranches will be made available to small and medium-sized enterprises digitally via OCBC Bank’s and OCBC Al-Amin’s digital platforms, BizFinancing and BizFinancing-i.

CGC president and chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Zamree Mohd Ishak said the PG will benefit OCBC Bank and OCBC Al-Amin MSME customers.

‘’The timing cannot be more perfect than now as MSMEs continue to recover from the aftermath of the pandemic,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, OCBC Bank chief executive officer Tan Chor Sen said the bank is constantly looking for ways to provide greater convenience to MSMEs for meeting their working capital needs.

‘’As a bank that thrives on digital offerings, we are pleased to have launched this pioneer digital PG to MSMEs,’’ he said.

OCBC Bank, through OCBC Al-Amin, became a prime mover of the initiative to make unsecured financing available when it introduced OCBC Al-Amin Business Cash-i (BC-i) in 2014. – BK