AI Meets Microfinance? Bee Informatica’s SME Lending Model

Fumiko Inada, Co-Founder and CEO, Bee Informatica

17-Mar-25 10:00

AI Meets Microfinance? Bee Informatica’s SME Lending Model

Pause
Embed

Securing financing can be a major hurdle for SMEs, especially those without traditional collateral. Enter Bee Informatica, a digital microfinance platform blending AI-driven credit assessments with microloan principles to provide quick, unsecured loans to underserved businesses in Malaysia. Fumiko Inada, Co-Founder and CEO of Bee Informatica, joins us to share how the company is reshaping SME financing with AI-powered risk assessment, its approach to responsible lending, and how it maintains a low non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of just 1.4%.

We also discuss the expected impact of Malaysia’s upcoming Consumer Credit Act, how Bee Informatica differentiates itself from banks and P2P lenders, and what the future holds, including expansion plans and a potential IPO in Tokyo by 2030.

Produced by: Carol Wong, Roshan Kanesan

Presented by: Roshan Kanesan

This and more than 60,000 other podcasts in your hand. Download the all new BFM mobile app.

Categories: markets, Women in Business, international, economy, SME, entrepreneurs

Tags: AI-powered microfinance, SME lending, fintech Malaysia, digital credit assessment, alternative financing,

Today’s Shows

11:00 AM

Best of Enterprise

(REPEAT) Why is succession planning a board's duty, not just an HR task? ICDM's Michele Kythe Lim and Tunku Alizakri discuss building a leadership pipeline.

12:00 PM

BBC World Service

(REPEAT) This week on Science in Action, stories on how scientists are tracking Atlantic ocean circulation with satellites, studying ancient proteins to understand life’s history, rethinking an old Australian crater’s impact, and highlighting Arthur Ruhlig’s forgotten work in fusion science.

1:00 PM

A Bit of Culture

(REPEAT) Kam Raslan, Zan Azlee and Mikey Gong get together to talk about cashless society, mathematics and nostalgia in TV shows and films!

2:00 PM

Ringgit & Sense

(REPEAT) Felix Neoh, Director of Financial Planning at Finwealth Management talks about the OPR how it affects your finances.

2:30 PM

The Property Show

(REPEAT) Adrianta Aziz of the Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM) discusses what defines sustainable architecture.

3:00 PM

Best of The Bigger Picture

(REPEAT) We unpack an important new report by IMAN Research, detailing the political views of the Malay youth -- what they're worried about, how they feel about multiculturalism and Islam in politics -- and how we can build stronger inter-ethnic relationships.

4:00 PM

Best of Evening Edition

(REPEAT) Governments are worried about falling birth rates, but are they missing the bigger picture? ARROW’s Sivananthi Thanenthiran joins us to talk about rights, realities, and why people must come before policies.

5:00 PM

BBC World Service

This episode of People Fixing the World focuses on nifty inventions that are helping save the lives of babies and mothers during childbirth.

PROGRAMMES