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Amartha books 44% increase in financing disbursement in first half of 2020
Amartha's expansion to Sumatra and Sulawesi fueled growth.
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Illustration for peer-to-peer lending. (Courtesy of/dollarsandsense.sg)
F
inancial technology (fintech) lending start-up Amartha booked an almost 44 percent increase in financing disbursement in the first half of this year after expanding to Sumatra and Sulawesi in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The peer-to-peer lender’s financing disbursement grew by 43.87 percent to Rp 645 billion (US$43.63 million) in the first half of this year compared to the year before. The funds were disbursed to 168,125 micro business players in the country, Amartha said in a statement on Thursday.
“We saw a decrease in financing by up to 60 percent in April to May due to the pandemic but it had since increased significantly by June and continues to rise to this day,” Andi Taufan Garuda Putra, Amartha founder and chief executive officer, said in the statement.
He also credited Amartha's expansion to Sumatra and Sulawesi as the main driver of the company’s recent growth.
To practice prudent financing during the pandemic, the company applied a policy that identifies debtors based on their regions and business types. It also applied a stricter credit approval and disbursement system based on areas most affected by the pandemic.
This means that the company could reject financing proposals for businesses located in red zones and only allow funding for partners in green zones. It also blacklisted businesses that rely heavily on conditions before the pandemic from receiving financing during the pandemic.
Amartha is aiming to disburse financing to more than 150,000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the second half of this year, without disclosing a specific monetary figure.
Andi said the company would target micro business players in the informal sectors that sell staple foods and food vendors.
“This sector has proven to be resilient amid the COVID-19 pandemic as they sell primary items in small-reaching areas such as villages,” he said in the statement.
Amartha pledges to continue to disburse financing during the pandemic to help MSMEs recover, adapt and grow.
