Unlocking Liquidity,
Expanding Horizons
Pakistan’s First Invoice Discounting Venture promises SMEs a future.
Smart Finance
The first SECP-licensed invoice discounting company in Pakistan that aims to change the fortunes of thousands of SMEs operating in Pakistan. Smart Finance aims to fill the gap left by policymakers and lending institutions by supporting SMEs with fast-tracked loans at competitive interest rates through invoice discounting. Invoice discounting is the practice of using a company’s unpaid accounts receivable as collateral for a loan, which is issued by a finance company. This practice allows Smart Finance Limited to streamline and accelerate the application process for SME loans which typically takes months through traditional channels owing to stringent credit approval and documentation criteria. Smart Finance’s seamless online application process allows SMEs to be approved for loans in as much as 24 hours.
What are SMEs?
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are a vital economic force in Pakistan. Second only to the agricultural sector, the country’s 3.25 million SMEs employ the largest share of the working population. Contributing 40% to GDP and 25% to exports, SMEs mark a shift from reliance on primary goods and agriculture, offering potential for progress and innovation. Despite their importance, SMEs face severe challenges in financial inclusion and institutional support 97% remain unbanked and operate in the informal sector. By June 2021, SME financing stood at just Rs. 437 billion, accounting for less than 7% of total private sector credit, with only about 170,000 borrowers. As a result, access to credit for SMEs in Pakistan is extremely limited. Lacking adequate financing and technical expertise to improve operations, many businesses are forced to rely on informal lending channels. The excessively high cost of such loans often erodes business margins, stifling growth and sustainability.
Smart Finance Limited
The first SECP-licensed invoice discounting company in Pakistan that aims to change the fortunes of thousands of SMEs operating in Pakistan. Smart Finance aims to fill the gap left by policymakers and lending institutions by supporting SMEs with fast-tracked loans at competitive interest rates through invoice discounting. Invoice discounting is the practice of using a company’s unpaid accounts receivable as collateral for a loan, which is issued by a finance company. This practice allows Smart Finance Limited to streamline and accelerate the application process for SME loans which typically takes months through traditional channels owing to stringent credit approval and documentation criteria. Smart Finance’s seamless online application process allows SMEs to be approved for loans in as much as 24 hours.
Our Assessment Variables
Smart Finance Limited will evaluate its impact assessment using the following four parameters:
Growth
Financial Inclusion
Employment
Gender Equality
Why Smart Finance
Speed
We provide the financing solution within 1 business day, and we can even pay out the money within 1 hour
Simplicity
We just need few documents and no tangible security to make the decision and process the transaction
Seamless Process
Smart Finance’s innovative technology platform has most seamless transaction flow.
Service Quality
We value our business relationships and service delivery to the smallest in business ladder is at the top of our priority list
Security
We’re an SECP licensed NBFE with a very secure integration, so you’re in good hands
Creating Opporunities
The SECP’s enthusiasm for this venture represents not only their faith in Smart Finance but highlights their own ambition and desire to see SMEs thrive in Pakistan About getting license
We are thankful to the SECP for reposing their trust in me and my team who are on a mission to provide liquidity and expand horizons for the SMEs in the country. This would not only empower the SMEs but would contribute immensely towards Pakistan’s GDP. We intend to help thousands of small businesses in the country, through our technology platform, facilitated by internet access and smartphone penetration in the country.
Naweed Sharif
With immediate access to liquidity at low-interest rates, Smart Finance represents not only a solution to the financial woes of SMEs, but rather the opportunity for the mobilization of resources which can have a generative effect on productivity, employment, and economic development across the country, beginning from the lowest rung of the financial ladder.
