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Business loans · from the lenders

Business loans in Singapore: who lends and what each wants

Business loans in Singapore from the lenders’ own pages: who lends to companies, the rules each one publishes, what the loans cost, and the government-backed EFS scheme.

By Updated

In short

Business loans in Singapore from the lenders’ own pages: the rules each lender publishes, which of them your business meets, what the same loan costs at each published rate after fees, and Enterprise Singapore’s government-backed EFS scheme. Each page shows its sources and when it last read them. We don’t arrange loans, and no lender pays us.

Where to start

  • You want to know if a lender will take you

    Your time in business, sales and ownership against every rule each lender publishes.

    Check your business →

  • A bank has turned you down

    What to do for the reason you were given, the other loans whose rules you still meet, and a UEN check on any lender or broker.

    What to do after a no →

  • You’re comparing banks

    Each lender’s limit, years, rate and fees side by side, from its own page.

    See every lender →

  • You have an offer and want its real cost

    Your rate, fees and any broker’s fee as one effective rate a year, and the same loan at each lender’s published rate.

    Work out the true cost →

  • You’ve heard of the EFS loan

    Every EFS loan type, who qualifies, the 70% risk share to 31 Mar 2027, and which lenders offer each.

    Find your EFS loan →

  • You want an EFS loan from a particular bank

    Which of 16 lenders offers each of the 7 EFS loan types.

    Which lender offers which →

Every page

Coming next

  • Working capital loans: how lenders size them
  • Invoice financing: how it works and what it costs
  • Bridging loans for businesses

Each one goes up once its data job has passed its checks. What’s new lists them as they arrive.

Quick answers

What are the requirements for a business loan in Singapore?

Lenders that publish their rules want a business registered and operating in Singapore. For a government-backed EFS loan, at least 30% must be owned by Singaporeans or PRs and the group must be an SME (sales of S$100 million or less, or 200 staff or fewer). Some lenders add a minimum time in business or minimum sales: see the table.

From Business loan requirements and rates in Singapore, lender by lender

What is the Enterprise Financing Scheme?

A scheme run by Enterprise Singapore under which banks and finance companies lend to Singapore businesses and the government takes a share of the loss if a loan isn’t repaid. It has seven loan types: working capital, fixed assets, trade, project, mergers and acquisitions, venture debt and green loans, and a separate programme for loans from two foreign banks.

From The Enterprise Financing Scheme (EFS): every loan, who qualifies, which lenders

Can I still get a business loan after a bank says no?

Often, yes. Each lender sets its own rules: some want 2 or 3 years in business, others 6 months or none they publish; some need S$500,000 or more of sales a year, most publish no figure. The checker above shows which loans’ published rules you still meet.

From Business loans in Singapore, when the bank says no

What is the difference between a flat rate and an effective rate?

A flat rate (also called simple interest) is worked out on the whole loan for the whole term: 5% flat on $100,000 over 3 years is $15,000 of interest, however much you have paid back. An effective rate is charged only on what you still owe, so it falls as you repay. The same loan costs more than the flat rate suggests: a flat 5% over 3 years is about 9.3% effective. At every term from 1 to 5 years, the effective rate is close to twice the flat rate (see the table).

From Business loan calculator: the true cost after every fee

Recent changes

  1. New: a business loan calculator. Enter an offer, flat or effective, with its fees and any broker’s fee, and get the monthly payment, the cash you actually receive and the true cost a year after every fee; the same loan at each lender’s published rate, at your amount and term; flat rates as effective rates (a flat 5% over 3 years is 9.31%); and what a broker’s fee of 1% to 10% does to the cost. Work out the true cost

  2. New: business loans when the bank says no. Pick the reason a lender gave and get what to do about it, from the sources that set the rules, and the other loans whose published rules you still meet; your credit report free for 30 days after a lender’s letter (Credit Bureau Singapore); a check on any lender or broker by UEN against ACRA’s records and the Ministry of Law’s 153 licensed and 31 exempt moneylenders; the Police’s signs of a loan scam; and what licensed moneylenders may charge. What to do after a no

  3. New: the Enterprise Financing Scheme (EFS), every loan type. What each of the 8 programmes pays for, how much and for how long, the government’s share of the risk (70% on working capital and project loans to 31 March 2027) and who qualifies, in Enterprise Singapore’s words; which of 16 lenders offers which loan; a checker for which EFS loan fits what the money is for, and your risk share today; how to apply on ESIMS; and a CSV. Find your EFS loan

  4. New: business loan requirements and rates in Singapore. What 17 banks, finance companies and digital banks say on their own pages about who can borrow, how much, for how long and at what price, quoted in their words; a checker that shows which loans’ published rules your business meets; the same S$100,000 loan priced at every published rate with fees, as one effective rate; and the government-backed EFS working capital loan, with its 70% risk share to 31 March 2027. Read 3 Nov 2026, every week from then on, with a CSV. Check your business

Every change to the site is on What’s new.

Corrections to these pages

No corrections to these pages so far. Every one is logged on Corrections with the date and what changed.