Amar Bank Partners with Mekar, Makes it Easy for MSMEs to Get Funds

Amar Bank and PT Mekar Investama Sampoerna (Mekar) have agreed to cooperate to run loan services peer-to-peer to channel credit facilities to a number of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Indonesia. The realization of Amar Bank's fund disbursement support is expected to encourage MSME business development through Microfinance Institutions, Mekar's business partners in various regions in Indonesia.

In the financial technology industry, Amar Bank has a superior product, namely Tunaiku, while Mekar is a financial technology company that helps bring together borrowers and investors or also known as peer-to-peer lending. Mekar will then cooperate with MFIs that are considered healthy, have the potential to grow and require investors to provide loans for MSMEs fostered by the MFI. With its current position, Mekar hopes that this kind of cooperation can support the growth of MSMEs.

"This time, Amar Banks cooperated with Mekar in distributing funds to several Microfinance Institutions. The distribution of these funds will later be forwarded to thousands of MSMEs located in several cities in Indonesia. We will continue to evaluate opportunities to provide banking access for customers in need," he said Managing Director of Amar Bank Vishal Tulsian.

Later, the distribution of funds from Amar Bank to Mekar will be forwarded to its two business partners, namely the Mitra Dhuafa Cooperative (Komida) and the Abdi Kerta Rahardja Cooperative (AKR). Both are said to have fostered more than hundreds of thousands of MSME borrowers from various regions in Indonesia.

In the process, Blossom will act as marketplace which will also carry out the process of monitoring the distribution of partnership funds to borrowers who have received funding assistance.

"It's an honor for the company fintech such as Mekar to collaborate with Amar Bank, one of the most technologically advanced banks in Indonesia," said Mekar CEO Thierry Sanders.

This collaboration is one way for Amar Bank to increase access to their capital services. Vishal added, in 2018 Amar Bank will focus more on two products owned by Amar Bank, namely conventional and digital lending. It also has a commitment to support financial institutions, including MFIs, as an effort to channel funds to people who need funds quickly and on target.

"This [fast and targeted distribution] is supported by an easy-to-access administrative process and the convenience of transacting with banks. With the aim of providing funds to MSMEs, it means that we can also help accelerate the distribution of funds to the right targets," concluded Vishal.