by SHAHEERA AZNAM SHAH/ pic credit: moneysave.com.my

MONEYSAVE (M) Sdn Bhd has launched a peer-to-peer (P2P) crowdfunding platform which aims to attract some RM8 billion worth of investments to assist 40,000 local small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Its CEO and founder Vincent Soh (picture) said in achieving the RM8 billion fund size, the platform is targeting 0.33% of Malaysians’ combined deposits and unit trusts estimated at RM2.4 trillion currently.

This consists of Malaysia’s unit trust investments of RM500 billion in 2018 and the Malaysian depositor base estimated at RM2 trillion as of March 2020.

“We specialise in trade invoice financing which is short term from 30 days to a maximum of 180 days with up to 85% margin of the invoice value. For example, an invoice value of RM100,000 can be crowdfunded up to RM85,000,” he stated in a statement released yesterday.

He added that the platform offers both retail and institutional investors’ return of between 7% and 16% per annum in the next five years.

Moving forward, Soh said MoneySave plans to expand its business in Indonesia and other Asean countries in the next three years.

“We aspire for MoneySave to be the top P2P platform in Malaysia and Asia specialising in the supply chain financing of trade invoice or receivables financing where SMEs come to seek financing by selling their trade invoices or trade receivables,” he said.

He said the platform is currently preparing its submission to the Securities Commission of Malaysia for the Shariah-compliant status by August 2020.

The P2P crowdfunding platform also offers multi-risk reduction investment strategies to lower investment risks as it allows investors to select and filter investment notes according to several strategies.

“MoneySave offers a convenient investment platform that allows investors to register and start investing through its online portal. It also allows SMEs to apply for the funding request and receive conditional approval from Moneysave,” it said.

MoneySave added that in order to lower the financing cost, SMEs will be rewarded with incentives with maximum 5% per annum to be used in a single investment note if they are meeting certain risk reduction criteria.

“Investors will get to filter and choose investment notes in return based on various risk reduction criteria met by the respective SMEs, thus reducing the risks of their investments.

“To further safeguard the investors, all investment monies are transferred to and are held in investor trust accounts endorsed by Maybank Trustees Bhd,” it said.