Siam Validus, a crowdfunding platform for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand, has announced its official membership with the Thailand National Credit Bureau (NCB).
This integration is expected to significantly enhance Siam Validus’s ability to provide digital, efficient, and responsible credit access to Thai SMEs.
Becoming an NCB member will enable Siam Validus to access credit bureau reports in real-time with SME consent, drastically reducing current turnaround times from two weeks to almost instantly.
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Crucially, the platform will also be able to report SME exposures and payment records back into the national system, fostering a ‘virtuous cycle’ of transparency, faster decision-making, and stronger credit profiles for SMEs.
Anand Periwal, CEO of Siam Validus, said: “Access to credit continues to be a key barrier for SMEs, which account for a large proportion of Thai businesses and contribute over 35 per cent of GDP. By joining the NCB, we are not only accelerating loan approvals through faster access to credit data but also ensuring that SMEs’ positive repayment histories are recorded to unlock larger opportunities in the future.”
Siam Validus, which holds over 50 per cent market share in SME crowdfunding in Thailand, is a joint venture between Validus Group, a leading digital supply chain financing platform that has facilitated over US$5 billion in SME loans across ASEAN, and SCG Distribution. The platform provides unsecured lending to SMEs within closed-loop supply chains through its crowdfunding licence.
Looking ahead, Siam Validus is in advanced discussions with leading domestic and international financial institutions to raise additional funds for deployment within transaction-backed supply chain ecosystems. The company is also actively exploring opportunities to expand its offerings to large companies, providing financing solutions to ease their account receivables and accounts payables by granting easy access to unsecured financing for their suppliers and buyers.
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In May this year, Validus Group and Fintech Nation, which builds sustainable and inclusive ecosystems for startups and SMEs, formed a US$10 million Embedded Finance Fund to support SMEs across Thailand and Indonesia.
A month earlier, Singapore-based digital bank GXS Bank acquired Validus Capital, the Singaporean subsidiary of Validus Group.
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