Guide to Best Small Business / SME Loans in Singapore (2024)
You're a struggling small business or SME (small-to-medium enterprise) owner, and you're looking to improve cash flow with a loan. What are the options? Let's cover the small business loan options in Singapore, and what you can do if you do not qualify for an SME loan.
What are the Business Loan Options in Singapore?
Business loans are an umbrella term to describe any kind of loan offered to a company for business purposes. There are actually many types of business loans: Some are just offered for whatever business needs you might have (such as for managing cash flow, or for furthering your growth), while others are offered specifically for certain business needs (such as machinery/equipment or property loans) or even types of businesses (start-ups). The most common types are covered below.
Business Loan
The "standard" business loan is an unsecured loan (meaning you do not offer any of your assets as collateral). You then choose a repayment term of up to 5 years to pay it off. All major banks such as DBS, OCBC and UOB offer this to local businesses, but there may be certain requirements such as how long your business has been around, and how much revenue it makes.
SME Working Capital Loan
This is a special type of business loan that's offered to local SMEs (max. 200 employees). The Singapore government works with banks to offer financing of up to $1 million per borrower, to be repaid within 1 to 5 years. The SME Working Capital Loan is available to Singapore-registered SMEs that are at least 30% owned by Singaporeans/PRs.
Temporary Bridging Loan
Another government-backed business financing scheme to help tide all businesses (not just SMEs) over the Covid-19 outbreak. This is open to Singapore-registered companies that are at least 30% owned by locals. The loan amount can be up to $5 million, and repayment period of up to 5 years.
Startup Business Loan
Sometimes called a "first business loan", the startup business loan is a mini version of the regular business loan, offering a smaller cap of, say, up to $100,000. It is considerably easier to get a startup business loan, as you only need to be in operation for a few months and do not need a strong financial history to borrow.
Why Might Your Business Loan Be Unsuccessful?
As you can see, there are many types of business loans available to SMEs in Singapore, and the government has even stepped in to ensure that funding is available to more small businesses. However, your business loan application may still be unsuccessful - and you will typically only find out after applying for the loan and waiting 2 weeks for it to get processed. Here are some possible "problem areas" when you are trying to secure a business loan:
Track Record
Getting a business loan if you have a fledgling business can be really tricky. Providers typically require your business be around for at least 6 months to qualify. Even if you are established, they may require proof of your annual revenue to lend to you. So if you are only just starting out, it may be difficult to get a business loan.
Business Ownership
Government-assisted financing is open only to businesses registered in (and present in) Singapore, who are at least 30% owned by Singaporeans/PRs. If you do not have enough Singaporean/PR shareholders, you may find it harder to secure a business loan.
Credit Score
Business loan providers can also choose to deny your loan if you have a poor credit score. A low credit score causes banks to doubt your ability to repay your loan. And yes! Your personal credit score does impact the results even if it's for a business loan.
Personal Loans for Small Businesses in Singapore (2024)
If you are unsuccessful or do not qualify for a small business loan, you may consider getting a personal loan instead. A personal loan has somewhat more relaxed requirements; however, the loan amount is also much, much smaller - for example, 4 times of your current salary. Therefore, personal loans are best suited to salaried workers who are looking to start their own side businesses and don't need much to kick it off with.
Personal Loans for Small Businesses in Singapore (2024)
Business Loans vs Personal Loans in Singapore
| Business Loan | Personal Loan | |
|---|---|---|
| Loan Amount | Up to S$20 million | Up to 4X monthly salary |
| Loan Period | Up to 5 years | Up to 7 years |
| Documents Required | ACRA records, business financial reports, etc. | Personal salary records |
| Business Age Requirement | Min. 6 months, some require min. 2 years | None |
| Processing Time | 2 weeks or more | Within a few days |
Standard Chartered CashOne
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Standard Chartered CashOne
- Interest Rate*
- From 2.88%
- Total Amount Payable
- S$10,864
- Processing Fee
- S$0
- Per Month
- S$302
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Standard Chartered's personal loan product, CashOne, has a lower-than-usual income requirement for locals. You just need to be earning S$20,000 annually to qualify for this loan, so it's great for low income earners who want to start their own business. For foreigners, the income requirement is S$60,000.
If you qualify, you can borrow up to 4 times your monthly income, capped at S$250,000. It's hassle-free too: You can get your loan instantly approved and disbursed to any bank account (no need to set up a StanChart bank account).
Standard Chartered personal loan interest rates are also guaranteed for customers who apply through MoneySmart. Be assured that your credit score will not result in a sky-high interest rate.
UOB Personal Loan
UOB Personal Loan
- Interest Rate*
- From 2.88%
- Total Amount Payable
- S$10,864
- Processing Fee
- 0%
- Per Month
- S$302
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GXS Flexi Personal Loan
- Interest Rates*
- From 2.99%
- Total Amount Payable
- S$10,897
- Processing Fee
- S$0
- Per Month
- S$303
HSBC Personal Loan
- Interest Rate*
- From 3.6%
- Total Amount Payable
- S$11,080
- Processing Fee
- S$0
- Per Month
- S$308
Standard Chartered SME Loans
With various types of loans for SMEs, Standard Chartered’s Business Instalment Loan, SME WCL (jointly offered by Enterprise Singapore) and TBL have a first year annual fee that is a maximum 2% of your approved loan amount (minimum S$400). If you decide to have a longer loan tenure, then the annual fee for the subsequent years will be $100 each year. You can even choose repayment periods between 12 to 60 months to cater to the needs of your business.
Standard Chartered Business Instalment Loan
What you can expect:
- Up to 11% of interest rate
- Up to $300,000 of maximum loan amount
- Up to 1 year - 3 years loan tenure
Standard Chartered SME Working Capital Loan(WCL)
What you can expect:
- Interest rate varies and depends on loan amount (You may contact SCB’s loan officer for preferred interest rates)
- Up to $3,000,000 of maximum loan amount
- Up to 1 year - 5 years loan tenure
Standard Chartered Temporary Bridging Loan for SMEs (TBL)
What you can expect:
- Interest rate varies and depends on loan amount (You may contact SCB’s loan officer for preferred interest rates)
- Up to $20,000,000 of maximum loan amount
- Up to 1 year - 5 years loan tenure
DBS SME Loans
The variety of SME loans by DBS cater to a wider range of business owners’ financial needs, ranging from smaller loan amounts of $100,000 to bigger loans of $20,000,000. The good thing about their loans is that there aren’t any annual fee charges, but there’s a minimum of $500 processing fee.
DBS Business Term Loan
What you can expect:
- Up to 11% of interest rate
- Up to $800,000 of maximum loan amount
- 1 year - 5 years loan tenure
DBS SME Working Capital Loan
What you can expect:
- Up to 7% of interest rate
- Up to $300,000 of maximum loan amount
- 1 year - 5 years loan tenure
DBS SME Micro Loan
What you can expect:
- Up to 7% of interest rate
- Up to $100,000 of maximum loan amount
- 1 year - 4 years loan tenure
UOB SME Loans
Similar to most banks, UOB’s maximum loan tenure for its SME loans is 5 years. If you’re looking for lower interest rates, UOB’s temporary bridging loan (jointly offered by Enterprise Singapore) is known for its competitive rates and this loan’s availability has been extended until the end of September 2022. Annual fees for UOB’s SME loans tend to be higher than other banks like Standard Chartered and DBS, as it can be up to $500, depending on the type of loan you take on.
UOB Temporary Bridging Loan
What you can expect:
- Interest rate from 2.75% (Interest rate depends on loan amount)
- Up to $1,000,000 of maximum loan amount
- 1 year - 5 years loan tenure
UOB SME Working Capital Loan
What you can expect:
- Interest rate varies and depends on loan amount (You may contact UOB’s loan officer for preferred interest rates)
- Up to $300,000 of maximum loan amount
- 1 year - 5 years loan tenure
UOB BizMoney Loan
What you can expect:
- Up to 10.88% of interest rate
- Up to $350,000 of maximum loan amount
- 1 year - 5 years loan tenure
Requirements to Apply For A SME Business Loan
Ownership or local shareholding
Some banks or loan providers require a certain percentage of shareholders to be Singaporean citizens or PRs in order to qualify for the SME business loan. This is also part of the responsibility for the banks or loan providers to abide by the regulations of the Ministry of Law of Singapore that a company must be “at least 30% owned by Singapore Citizens and/or Permanent Residents”.
Incorporation of a SME
Most of the SME business loans cater to companies which are registered in Singapore, physically present and operating in Singapore as well.
Annual sales or annual income
Annual sales requirements for loans vary from provider to provider. Although there are some private loan providers that have a lower annual sales requirement of at least $500,000, most government-backed loans have the limit that the annual sales should not exceed $100 million in order to qualify for the loan. As for annual income, some loans like the Standard Chartered CashOne Loan need a minimum annual income of $20,000, while others like the Citi Quick Cash need a higher annual income of at least $30,000.
Employment size
Similar to annual sales requirements, the group employment size required for each loan is different. Some like those offered by DBS and Enterprise Singapore need about 200 or fewer, while others do not have any minimum or maximum numbers.
Operating duration of the business
Most businesses need to be operating for at least the past 6 months before being eligible for any SME business loans.
How To Apply For A SME Business Loan
Before you start applying for any business loans, you’ve got to be really sure of why you need to take up that loan i.e. extra funds for business expansion, to help to ease cash flow issues or for unexpected emergencies. Picking a manageable loan amount that you can afford to pay off monthly is important to keep your business going and to have a healthy P&L statement as well. Here are 4 simple steps to apply for an SME Business loan to get you started.
Visit MoneySmart’s SME Loans page
Simply click on the “Apply Now” buttons above after selecting the preferred bank loan or you can choose to apply via the respective banks’ mobile apps or their websites with your SingPass MyInfo. The bank will then retrieve your identity and income data from SingPass (which is already verified).
Get ready all required documentation
You’ll need to provide all the necessary documentation in order for the bank to approve your SME business loan application. This list of documents include:
- NRIC or other identification details of sole proprietors, partners, principals, and directors
- Your company’s Goods and Services Tax statements for the past 12 months
- Your company’s operating bank current account statements for the past 6 month
- Any required business banking facility forms issued by the bank (to be filled up)
- Completed Enterprise Singapore Enterprise Financing Scheme (EFS) application form (if applicable)
- Copy of sole proprietors’ or partners’ Income Tax Notice of Assessment
- Your company’s board of directors’ resolution
- Your company’s constitutional documents e.g. memorandum, articles of association
- Any professional certificate (if applicable) documents related to the establishment of entity, identity and proof of business address documents
Select your loan tenure and financing amount
Decide on your required loan amount and tenure before picking the suitable plan and also the preferred account to receive your funds, or provide the details of your other bank accounts.
Get your loan approved with quick disbursement
The loan disbursement will be completed upon approval of your SME business loan application, and the bank will send you a notification as you receive the funds in your preferred bank account.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the documents required to apply for a business loan?
- If you are applying for a regular business loan with a bank, you will need to furnish documents to prove your business track record. For example, your financial statements/reports, bank statements, GST declaration and so on. Banks may want to see these records from an extended period (e.g. the last 2 years) as well. If applying for a government-backed business loan such as the SME Working Capital Loan, you may need to show proof of your company's ownership, such as ACRA records. A startup business loan, however, requires fewer business documentation (sometimes no documents at all). And with a personal loan, you need only furnish your personal income documents, NRIC/FIN and work pass and that's it.
How long is the business loan application processing time?
- Business loans typically take about 2 weeks or so to process, since there is a large amount of paperwork for the provider to go through. This is understandable as business loans tend to be quite large, and lenders want to be confident that they are lending to the right people. During troubled economic times, banks may also get a high volume of loan applications, resulting in even longer processing times. With a personal loan, however, you can get instant approval and the funds disbursed in your bank account within days.
Can I get loan to start a business?
- If you have not started your business yet, you will not be able to get a business loan. Even for startup business loans, you will typically need to be a registered/operational business for at least 6 months to qualify. You can choose to register your business anyway and start operations on a small scale for 6 months before attempting to apply for a small business loan. If you are severely cash-strapped, you may consider applying for a personal loan to start your business. However, be sure that your business plan is functional enough that you will be able to afford the monthly repayments. Otherwise, the repayments will have to come out of your own pocket!
