OCBC is stepping up its push to finance women-led businesses, aiming to back 10,000 entrepreneurs across Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Indonesia by 2030.
The bank revealed the expanded goal at a briefing covered by The Business Times, noting that more than 2,000 women-owned SMEs had already received close to S$600 million in social loans by mid-2025.
The Women Unlimited programme started in Singapore in April 2024, offering up to S$100,000 in financing for early-stage businesses run by women.
It targets companies in their first two years of operation and waives processing fees to lower entry barriers.
OCBC later brought the programme to Hong Kong in early 2025 and to Malaysia in August, while a related scheme called Women Warriors has been running in Indonesia since 2020.
The bank positions the initiative as a way to help close funding gaps for women-owned companies and improve their early growth prospects.
According to OCBC data, female entrepreneurs generally borrow less in their first three years and record about 30 per cent lower turnover growth than male-owned firms.
The bank said access to financing has already helped narrow this gap, particularly in Singapore, where loan commitments to women-owned SMEs grew more than 20 per cent year on year.
Across all four markets, about a third of OCBC’s SME clients are now women-owned, with Singapore at 36 per cent.
In Malaysia, Women Unlimited is delivered through OCBC Al-Amin Bank with collateral-free loans of up to RM600,000 supported by a RM100 million Islamic Portfolio Guarantee-i facility arranged with the Credit Guarantee Corporation.
Loan amounts differ by market to match the needs of each country’s entrepreneurs, ranging from micro-business owners in Indonesia to more capital-intensive startups in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Several entrepreneurs have highlighted how the programme has accelerated their growth.
The Powder Shampoo tapped OCBC’s financing to move into the Philippines and projects that it will double its customer base by the end of 2025, with revenue rising by 150 per cent in 2026.
The Plattering Co used its loan to build a halal-certified central kitchen and expects to increase its customer base by half and triple revenue by 2027.
Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by OCBC
