CIMB Singapore Leads Formation of SME Resilience Circle to Strengthen Business Growth and Sustainability

(From left to right) Mr Vikram Kotibhaskar, Co-Founder, CredilLinq.ai ; Mr Adam Lim, Head of Commercial Banking Product and Strategy, CIMB Singapore ; Mr Mervyn Ng, Head of Bancassurance Partnerships & Sales, Singlife and Mr Christopher Yu, President and Chief Financial Officer, KPay came together for a group photo following the signing of bi-lateral MOUs for the SME Resilience Circle. 

19 NOVEMBER 2025, SINGAPORE: CIMB Singapore has taken the lead in forming the SME Resilience Circle, a collaborative initiative with CrediLinq, KPay and Singlife to boost the resilience, growth, and long-term sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore and across the region. It aims to further include other ecosystem partners to help SMEs address key challenges faced today such as rising costs, digital disruption, and evolving customer behaviour.

Marked by the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on 19 November 2025 between CIMB Singapore and each partner, the collaboration will enable at least 30,000 existing retailers in their networks to access data-driven, performance-linked financing solutions.

At the heart of this collaboration is CIMB FlexiPay, an innovative “pay-as-you-earn” loan launched in August 2025 to offer SMEs smarter and more flexible access to working capital. Repayments* are automatically linked to a business’ daily revenue, allowing companies to pay only when they earn, and nothing on days when they do not. Businesses pay a single upfront fee, with no interest, prepayment penalties, or late fees, through a fully digital process.

“CIMB Singapore is proud to lead the SME Resilience Circle as part of our continued commitment to advance customers and society. Through financial solutions like CIMB FlexiPay, we aim to make it simpler and faster for SMEs to manage their cashflow and reinvest in growth, supporting not just business continuity, but competitiveness for the future,” said Benjamin Tan, Head of Commercial & Transaction Banking, CIMB Singapore.

“Through this partnership with CIMB Singapore, we’re expanding access to innovative financing solutions such as CIMB FlexiPay for our client base. By combining CrediLinq’s AI-powered technology and credit underwriting with CIMB Singapore’s trusted financial ecosystem, we aim to make working capital more accessible, transparent, and responsive to how businesses actually perform,” said Vikram Kotibhaskar, Co-founder, CrediLinq.

“Thousands of SME businesses rely on daily transactions to sustain their operations, with cashflow being absolutely critical to their success. Through our collaboration with CIMB Singapore, KPay seamlessly connects payment data with financing solutions, making credit fairer and more inclusive for merchants. Beyond payments and transaction management, we are now empowering our merchants’ growth by providing access to truly flexible financing options,” said Christopher Yu, President & Chief Financial Officer, KPay.

“SME resilience is more than financing. It’s about building the confidence to take risks, grow sustainably, and safeguard what matters. Singlife is proud to partner with CIMB Singapore to support a more holistic ecosystem for business continuity and protection. When SMEs are financially secure and supported, the entire economy becomes stronger,” said Sandeep Nair, Head of Sales, Singlife.

For more information, visit CIMB FlexiPay.

Terms & Conditions apply.

*Repayments are automatically deducted from the daily deposits based on the selected holdback rate which is the percentage of the business’ daily revenue that will go towards repaying CIMB FlexiPay. 

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Disclaimer:

Deposit Insurance Scheme

Singapore dollar deposits of non-bank depositors are insured by the Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation, for up to S$100,000 in aggregate per depositor per Scheme member by law. Foreign currency deposits, dual currency investments, structured deposits and other investment products are not insured. 

About CIMB Bank

CIMB is one of ASEAN’s leading banking groups and Malaysia’s second largest financial services provider, by assets. Listed on Bursa Malaysia via CIMB Group Holdings Berhad, it had a market capitalisation of approximately RM75.2 billion as at 31 March 2025. It offers consumer banking, commercial banking, wholesale banking, transaction banking, Islamic banking and asset management products and services. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, the Group is present across ASEAN in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Philippines. Singapore is one of its key markets with approximately 1,000 employees serving clients across consumer, commercial, wholesale and transaction banking products and services.

Beyond ASEAN, the Group has market presence in China, Hong Kong and UK. CIMB has one of the most extensive retail branch networks in ASEAN with 592 branches and over 33,000 employees as at 31 March 2025. CIMB’s investment banking arm is one of the largest Asia Pacific-based investment banks, which together with its award-winning treasury & markets and corporate banking units comprise the Group’s leading wholesale banking franchise. CIMB is also the 92.5% shareholder of Bank CIMB Niaga in Indonesia, and 94.8% shareholder of CIMB Thai in Thailand.

Sustainability is a core pillar of CIMB’s Forward30 strategy and 2030 roadmap. The Group is guided by its Green, Social, Sustainable Impact Products and Services (“GSSIPS”) framework, an internal taxonomy designed to deliver impactful sustainable finance. Since launching its sustainable finance framework in 2021, CIMB has progressively raised its ambitions, increasing its initial RM30 billion target to RM100 billion for 2021–2024. The Group now targets RM300 billion in sustainable finance by 2030, reinforcing its commitment to enabling a lower-carbon and more inclusive economy across the region.

For media queries, please contact mediasg@cimb.com.