The genesis of CrediLinq.Ai’s journey to create an accessible AI-powered SME lending platform

The genesis of CrediLinq.Ai’s journey to create an?accessible AI-powered SME lending platform

Having seen how difficult it was for people like my wife to access credit, I started CrediLinq.Ai to reimagine the way credit is underwritten.

Fifteen years in banking and asset management may not seem like a long time, but it was enough to have witnessed how inefficient the lending process was for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). My career in banking came at the height of the boom years and the subsequent hit from the financial crisis. One of my first experiences in 2008 was to help a client restructure its debts, which it was not able to repay due to the resulting slowdown from the great financial crisis.

It was a humbling experience as it showed the true strength and character of corporate leaders, who were willing to acknowledge they were in financial trouble and were willing to take steps, with the help of banks, to get back on track.

Unfortunately, as I soon discovered, this was only a small positive example of such willingness or ability to repay during rough times.

What transpired over the following years was the realization that the onerous requirements set by banks were just too hard to adhere to. The loan application process became so cumbersome that only a select few would be able to get debt funding. The main cause was the bottleneck created through the collection of client information and credit approvals.

As late as 2017, at a large American bank, I was still inputting client financials into Excel files. We were running models off our laptops to assess credit quality. Even worse, at its peak, I was running a $12 billion loan distribution book on Excel – yes – that’s billion…

The experience of applying for a loan as an SME business owner

The start of a business journey is never easy. After several years of experience, my wife was finally ready to start her own physiotherapy clinic. We were blessed to have the financial means to get off the ground with success.?

After a year of running the business, it became profitable and we were able to start creating growth plans. And then, COVID-19 unexpectedly struck us, like many other SMEs.

It was a tough period for us as business owners. When lockdowns hit, we had to close the clinic for 10 weeks and burnt through much of our saved capital. Once we re-opened, it took time for the business to take off again, but it did. Eventually, we were at full capacity once again.?

To cater to the newfound focus on health and the surge in patient inquiries the business had to hire and renovate. Unfortunately, the capital was thin and much of the business savings were depleted. At this stage, we were nearing two years of operations and felt we could try to get bank funding.?

During the lockdown, applying and receiving a loan became an arduous process. As we approached the banks, it becomes very clear that the process was highly cumbersome, filled with formalities and procedures that would take as long as four months to get loan approval. As the business need was urgent, we instead chose to dip into our personal savings to pay for the renovation and to hire new staff.

Establishing CrediLinq.Ai to rapidly help SMEs

With Covid-19 lockdowns, it has been very difficult for business owners to get loans, and it's even harder to get them quickly. It has become clear to me that the time taken by the banking industry to take a credit decision has handicapped several SMEs. The current approach to risk underwriting is also marred by a lack of the current system’s ability to innovate. This is a hidden opportunity for fintech companies like us to step in.

In developing CrediLinq.Ai, we had to do something differently. And so, we did. We rejected the notion of dealing with credit underwriting as it has been done traditionally. To innovate and simplify, we had to reimagine and recreate the entire credit underwriting process.?

Therefore, we have built a proprietary system to make it simple for every borrower to take the loan application journey. By using the power of data science and our predictive modeling we provide transparency to our Investors, where their questions can be answered, even before they are asked.

Reimagine the credit underwriting process?

CrediLinq.Ai’s platform will be a powerful tool to mitigate not only the traditional financing barriers faced by SMEs but also those specific constraints to credit access faced by SMEs daily.?

We live in an age where data, online banking, and mobile credit services can play a major role in mitigating friction. We ensure that entrepreneurs can receive loans without having to navigate cumbersome processes and slow traditional methodologies.?

In designing our lending technology, we have set out to improve the credit process in several different ways and to ensure advantages for both SMEs and our investors.

We are ready to support SMEs and provide investors with access to private credit transparently and seamlessly.

Credilinq is a fintech company based in Singapore. We believe that every business should have hassle-free and fair access to capital that enables them to meet their growth aspirations. We are building a credit lending platform powered by our proprietary artificial- intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms. Our goal is to create a more inclusive, accessible, digital-first, and frictionless customer journey where every business can get quicker access to growth capital. Find out more about us at?www.credilinq.ai.