We are extremely proud to announce that Retail Capital has been awarded Silver for Product Innovation of the Year by the Global SME Finance Awards. A few of the judges comments from the evening:
“An entry that seeks to tackle difficult challenges.”
“Knowingly gearing up to disburse higher volume of transactions/lower value per transaction that benefit more SMEs versus targeted value to some borrowers. Very commendable!”
Organized by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the SME Finance Forum and endorsed by the G20’s Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), the Global SME Finance Awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of financial institutions and fintech companies in delivering exceptional products and services to their SME clients.
This year’s award winners were selected from a competitive pool of 144 applicants. A panel of independent judges chose the winners based on their Reach, Uniqueness and Innovation, Effectiveness and Impact, and Dynamism and Scalability.
Paulo de Bolle, Senior Director, Global Industry, Financial Markets, Global Financial Institutions Group at the International Finance Corporation said: “The Global SME Finance Awards recognize and reward innovation in small business lending that can improve financing for SMEs, helping small businesses grow and create jobs. Innovations in lending technology and business models, can significantly reduce the cost of serving SMEs.”
Matthew Gamser, CEO of the SME Finance Forum said: “We hope the winners of the Global SME Finance Awards will inspire SME financiers all over the world to learn from their good practices. The Awards provide the winners an opportunity to showcase good practices on the global stage and foster learning amongst their peers.”
The Global SME Finance Awards also introduced a new category this year – Women-owned SME Bank of the Year. This important new award allows financial institutions and fintech companies to showcase achievements and advances in specifically supporting women-owned SMEs.
Natascha Beinker, Deputy Head of Division at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and Co-Chair of the SME Finance Subgroup of G20 GPFI said: “The Global SME Finance Awards put the spotlight on two key issues – responsible innovation and responsible financing, which are an integral part of the financial inclusion agenda. As demonstrated by this year’s and last year’s Awards winners, product innovations can lower costs and allow SME financiers to better serve previously underserved and unserved SMEs, particularly women-owned SMEs.”
About the SME Finance Forum
The SME Finance Forum works to expand access to finance for small and medium businesses. The Forum operates a global membership network that brings together financial institutions, technology companies, and development finance institutions to share knowledge, spur innovation, and promote the growth of SMEs. Established in 2012 by the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion, the SME Finance Forum is managed by IFC. For more information, visit http://www.smefinanceforum.org
About Retail Capital
Since 2011, we have provided businesses with innovative, flexible and convenient alternatives to traditional business funding. Business owners still identify access to working capital as the single biggest challenge that they are faced with. Being responsible for 50% of the country’s GDP and contributing to over 65% of employment, we are devoted to partnering with small to medium-sized businesses to grow the South African economy. This is where we can help and we are proud to have partnered with more than 22,000 SMEs in providing small business funding of more than R3bn to date.