Yoma Bank partners with Telenor Myanmar to offer small business loans through its digital SMART Credit Business Product

Yangon, Myanmar – February 14, 2020 – Yoma Bank and Telenor Myanmar have entered a new partnership to provide unsecured small business loans to Telenor merchants through Yoma Bank’s digital SMART Credit Business Product. Through this partnership, Yoma Bank aims to support nearly 100,000 small businesses that need credit to grow their business, but who do not have sufficient collateral to borrow from a traditional bank.

The new partnership enables Telenor merchants to apply loans at smartcredit.yomabank.com online anywhere at any time to grow their business without needing to provide collateral or extensive documentation. Loan sizes will range from 100,000 MMK to 5,000,000 MMK, depending on the air time sales volume of each merchant. The loan size will be determined and calculated based on how much airtime – both scratch cards and electronic top-up – is sold by each merchant.

“By partnering with Telenor, we are able to offer low-cost digital loans to nearly 100,000 family-run businesses all across Myanmar through our SMART Credit Business product. These businesses can use the loans to buy more inventory, expand their shops, or pay for large expenses. As borrowers repay their loans on time, they’ll qualify for larger loan amounts in the future,” said Jason Loughnane, Yoma Bank’s Head of Digital Credit.

“Telenor Myanmar is delighted to partner with Yoma Bank, supporting our channel partners with easy access to funds through a simple and trusted process. Our channel partners’ success is important to us as they are instrumental in serving our customers every day, across Myanmar. Together we are empowering societies through both digital and financial inclusion,” said Rituraj Kalita, Head of Yangon Region and National Channel Head at Telenor Myanmar.

Yoma Bank and Telenor Myanmar started the first partnership in 2015 by jointly founding Wave Money, Myanmar’s leading digital money service. Yoma Bank began offering unsecured loans to Wave Money agents in November 2018, and has lent over 60 billion MMK to over 15,000 agents since inception of the program.

Yoma Bank’s digital loans are easy, fast, safe, and private. Approved loans are disbursed to the applicant’s Smart account the next business day. Telenor airtime sellers can learn more about this offer by calling Yoma Bank at 097-9662-9662.

About Telenor Myanmar

Telenor has been providing accessible and affordable mobile communications to people across Myanmar since 2014. With an ambition to deliver the best network experience and relevant services to consumers and businesses based on a solid commitment to responsible business, we currently serve more than 22 million customers across all states, regions and territories. Read more about Telenor Myanmar: https://www.telenor.com.mm.

Telenor Myanmar is part of Telenor Group, one of the world’s major mobile operators with 186 million subscriptions across the Nordic region and Asia. Empowering societies through connectivity has been Telenor’s priority for 165 years. For more information about Telenor Group, please visit: https://www.telenor.com.