Facilitate SMEs, "Bangku" Presents as a Business Loan Marketplace

Indonesia's startup ecosystem in the last five years has begun to be filled with financial technology services which provides loans to SMEs. This makes SMEs now have many choices in seeking loans. Departing from these conditions, to find a loan that suits your needs, Bangku.id (Bangku) was finally born.

The bench was initiated by Gerryansa Agesy (CEO), Ardiansyah Arpiana (CTO), and Noviyanti Ibrahimi (Lead Partnership). All three have long career paths, but all within the outlines of the financial services industry. Gerry has more than 7 years of experience as a consultant for the financial services industry including EY and PwC, Ardiansyah has more than 9 years of experience as a technology consultant for the financial services industry, and Novi has 7 years of experience as a banker.

The three of them built the Bench into a marketplace business loans that bring together SME players with loan products from various financial services, including financial technology startups.

"Bench has been operating since March 2020 and to date has served more than Rp75 billion in total loans for small and medium enterprises. Bench has collaborated with more than 25 financial institutions including Investree, Koinworks, Akseleran, UOB Bank, Sampoerna Bank, MNC Bank, BFI Finance, BAF, BPR Lestari, and others," said Gerry.

Startup currently logged in lot 3 Synrgy Accelerator It works by reviewing metrics including business financial projections, fund usage, industry, and monthly income to find loan options. The Bench Platform will ask a series of questions to predict which type of loan is most likely to match the qualifications of the business owner.

"Each borrower will also be accompanied advisor to answer questions throughout the whole process. Loan application process online The bench takes an average of 15 minutes to complete. Our target is SMEs or startups who are looking for loans for their businesses," said Gerry.

Providing capital loans for SMEs is currently the focus of some financial technology services. Such as Modalku, TokoModal, KoinWorks, Akseleran, Investree, and MoneyFriend which has just announced Bank Sampoerna as Actioncalendar institution. Especially in the current pandemic conditions where many businesses need "gasoline" to maintain their operations.

To date, Bench has managed to get 100 SMEs using their system and is still focused on helping SMEs get loans while developing and perfecting their platform. The bench itself will get referral fee from partners of financial institutions for each approved loan application.