Kathmandu, November 27 : Nabil Bank and leading online marketplace, Daraaz, have jointly launched ‘Sarathi’ Program with an aim to facilitate the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Mr. Sujit Kumar Shakya, Deputy CEO of Nabil Bank and Mr. LinoAhlering, Managing Director ofDaraz Nepal Pvt. Ltd signed an agreement to this effect during a program held in the capital on Thursday (November 26).
Under this strategic partnership, the SMEs selling via Daraz online shopping marketplace will be able to obtain a wide range of credit facilities and benefits which they can use to grow their businesses.
“The ongoing economic crisis caused by COVID-19 has had a severe effect on the overall economy, particularly on the SMEs. In this context, the Sarathi program will enable them active on Daraz, to navigate through the hardships and restrictions presented by COVID-19,” states a press release issued by Nabil Bank.
This SME lending program is a new merit-based approach with credit scoring, considering data points from Daraz and scorecard model of Nabil Bank i.e., sellers that perform well on Daraz shall get better credit offering.
Under the Sarathi Program, SME sellers can get financing under different categories. They will also be able to avail the SME Loan up to NPR 10 million, especially designed for Daraz sellers at” attractive” interest rates.
Speaking at the program, Deputy CEO of Nabil Bank said, “This collaboration will remain as a milestone for the development of digital marketplace in Nepal. One of our top priorities is to provide support to SMEs in Nepal to enhance their business through value chain financing for which we have collaborated with Daraz for the Sarathi Program. “We believe this financing arrangement shall help them to navigate through the hardships due to COVID-19 and revive their businesses for long term stability and growth,” he added.
Likewise, Managing Director of Daraaz Nepal said, “We are very excited to present Sarathi in collaboration with Nabil Bank. Even though we have worked on this for a long time, it proves to be even more important considering the impact of COVID-19 on the economy.”
” This is a new solution to credit scoring in Nepal and we are just in the beginning of this strategic partnership. Hence, we are looking forward to working very closely with Nabil Bank on such initiatives so we can further strengthen the Nepali ecosystem,” he added.
