Asialink Finance Corp. has raised P1 billion from Yuanta Saving Bank and Small Business Corp. for relending to small- and medium-scale businesses.

SBC, a government entity, provided P600 million while Yuanta, formerly, Tong Yang Saving Bank, lent P400 million.

Asialink lends about P1.3 billion per month to companies that find it hard to borrow from banks.

"The small and medium companies are the backbone of economies, big and small. They provide jobs in all corners of our country and help the economy grow. They are a strategic economic and social pillar and therefore should be supported," Asialink CEO Roberto Jordan said.

 Huge sector, negligible sizes

While big as a sector, their relatively insignificant individual sizes are a bar to getting bank loans because of the tight lending policies and restrictions banks need to comply with. The big banks are also not designed to lend small amounts and work with hundreds of thousands of such small borrowers, Jordan said.

"Asialink fills that gap. We have more than 45,000 borrowers and our repayment rate is higher than that of banks. We charge higher than bank rates but we can approve a loan within a day for repeat clients and require fewer documentation. In the end, as their businesses grow, everybody is happy," he said.