Minterest FAQ

Please click here to sign up.

Simply register, indicate that you are signing up as an investor. When sign-up is confirmed, complete either the knowledge/experience or the suitability questionnaire and submit your identification documents. Once approved, you will have access to the platform to view live deals. Transfer a minimum of $1,000 to the escrow account (account details provided on the platform) to commence your investment journey.

Details are kept private and not disclosed to borrowers. However, your details are shared with the escrow agent as they will need to perform "know-your-customer" (KYC) checks as well as managing the movements of your funds.

Investors’ risk in making investments through our platform generally falls into the following categories:

Credit Risk

This covers the ability of borrowers to repay their loans on a timely basis. While we do not provide a recommendation on the creditworthiness of borrowers, we will undertake due diligence on all borrowers to determine their ability to repay promptly. Only borrowers whom we believe are able to meet their obligations on a timely basis will be allowed to post a Loan Request. Apart from protecting investors’ interest, this also protects our reputation as a peer-to-business lending platform that delivers quality deals. Borrowers will have access to our deep structuring capabilities, understanding of cash flows and credit analysis processes to ensure that the loans they raise have the best chance of repayment. This helps the investors in terms of managing default risks.

Operational Risk

Your money is maintained in a bank account controlled by a MAS-licensed trust company, Vistra Trust (Singapore) Pte. Limited (“Vistra”). Risks associated with transactions carried out through the platform are mitigated by using a developed and tested platform built by developers, who are experienced and have delivered dozens of such platforms to operators around the world. Your data is kept securely through our platform, which is hosted by Amazon Web Services in Singapore.

Legal Risk

Our platform terms, which include the agreement between investors and borrowers, are documented by reputable financial lawyers to ensure that investors’ interests are adequately covered and clauses covering various situations are clear and unambiguous.

Investors do not pay any fees for participating in the Funding Requests or for using the platform. However, a service fee of 15% will be levied on interest, factoring fees and any other fees earned by investors. All interest rates quoted on our platform are on a gross basis and payable to the investors after deducting the service fee. There may be a small transactional fee imposed by the bank when withdrawals are made.

You can fund your platform account by making an online transfer either via FAST or GIRO to the designated bank account held by Vistra, our escrow agent. Details of the bank account can be found at your Dashboard Wallet when you make a deposit on the platform account. 

The bank account details are also reproduced below:

Account name: Vistra Trust - Minterest

Account number: 003-943613-0

Bank: DBS BANK Ltd

Subject to funds being available on your Platform Account, you can participate in any of the live deals by selecting them and completing a few simple steps. Once an offer has been submitted, your funds in your Platform Account will be earmarked for this particular Funding Request and shall no longer be available to be used to make another offer or be withdrawn from the Platform Account.

There is no physical signing of contracts. By clicking and agreeing to our platform terms, you are bound by the terms governing borrowers and lenders. This has the same legal effect as signing a contract.

You can contact us with any questions that you may have in respect of a particular Funding Request. We will answer your questions and, where required, seek the borrower’s input.

Generally, an escrow agent is someone that holds property or money on behalf of someone while a transaction is being finalised. In our context, the escrow agent holds the investors’ money on their behalf before the investors participate or invest in a Loan Request. It will also hold money on behalf of the investors when the loans are repaid prior to it being used for further investments or withdrawn from the escrow agent’s bank account.

Your money is maintained in a bank account controlled by a trust company, which is licenced by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”). The trust company acts as an escrow agent for the money deposited by investors. We use Vistra Trust (Singapore) Pte. Limited, which is licensed by MAS, as our escrow agent.

You can put in a request to withdraw funds under the “My Wallet” tab on your dashboard after you have logged in. Once a request has been submitted, we will process it as soon as possible. Typically, you will receive the funds in your bank account within a couple of working days. Minterest or the escrow agent do not charge any fees. However, the transfer of funds may be subject to a low processing fee charged by the bank.

Money placed in the escrow agent’s account will not earn any interest. You will earn interest from successfully participating in funding requests that are posted on our platform.

The typical minimum investment amount is $50 although in certain situations the minimum investment size may be higher or lower. Generally, additional investments can be made in multiples of $10, $50 or S100 depending on the minimum set for the particular Funding Request.

The rate of return of a particular investment very much depends on the type of financing, the tenor of the financing and the quality of the counterparty. Generally, you can expect to earn between 8% and 18% per annum although in certain situations interest rate or returns may be lower. At Minterest, we seek out better-quality borrowers as we aim to be a true alternative to conventional financial institutions. Interest rates payable on these financings will commensurate with the credit risks associated with the borrower or the customer in the case of invoice financing. As such, you may notice that interest rates on offerings posted on our platform may be lower than others. We will also bring quality structuring and credit analysis expertise to all the deals we consider for posting on the Minterest platform.

You will earn interest and fee income from the investments that you make on our platform. We understand that interest and fee income earned from such investments are taxable under the laws of Singapore. You should consult your tax adviser if you are unclear about your tax obligations.  If you are a non-resident, you may also be subject to withholding tax on the interest or fee.

Loans are generally safer investments than equities. However, there will be situations where the borrowers are unable to pay on time or may become insolvent resulting in their inability to repay the loan. In such situations, steps will be taken to recover the amount outstanding (these are set out in our Platform Terms). It is important that investors exercise caution and diversify their investments widely so that any defaults by borrowers would account for only an acceptable percentage of their total investment portfolio.  

Convertible Loans, by nature, have higher risks than Regular Repayment Loans and Single Repayment Loans as they are or may be convertible into shares of the borrowers.  The value of the shares will be determined by the performance and profitability of the borrowers.

Invoice financing is predicated on the credit risk of the client's customer. Typically, the customer will be of a better quality credit risk than the client. This allows the client to access funds are a lower rate than if they were to take a working capital loan using its own credit standing. While the client's customer's credit quality may be better, there could be situations where the client's customer may not pay the invoice e.g. insolvency of the client's customer.

Yes, you can make offer for multiple Funding Requests subject to availability of funds in your Platform Account.

The amount that you have earmarked for the particular Funding Request will be returned to your Platform Account. You can then use the money to participate in other Funding Requests.

Borrowers typically make their loan repayments on the due date and at times, the next day. This is the nature of the SME environment where cash is managed to the day. In exceptional situations, loan repayments may be made before the due date.

When a loan repayment is not made on the due date, Minterest will actively engage the borrower to encourage them to make the payment as soon as possible. There are a number of reasons why a loan repayment may not be made on the due date. The main causes are as follows:

Late repayments due to technicalities

These situations typically arise when a debt repayment date falls a non-banking day or the day immediately after a non-banking day. As a result, cheques or bank instructions are not processed on those days resulting in funds not being cleared in time for repayment into Participating Members wallet. Generally, a couple of working days delay will be encountered. We do not consider this to be a late payment for purposes of the Platform Terms.  

Late repayments due to delayed receipts of accounts receivables

There may be times when a borrower's debt repayment is predicated on the receipt of accounts receivable from a customer. Sometimes, the delay could be a couple of days. At times, this could be longer. Where debt repayments are made within a few working days (typically, 5 working days) of the scheduled repayment date, we do not consider this as a late payment. Beyond that, the borrower will be considered to have entered into the 1st Grace Period where late fees are imposed on the borrower and interest continues to be charged.

Late repayments due to poor business performance

Our loans are often to small, medium sized companies. There will be times when business performance of a borrower takes a hit due to various factors including a weakening economy, school holidays or festivals. This may result in a borrower delaying repaying its debts for a period of time. In such circumstances, late fees and late interest will be imposed.

What does the Platform Terms say when a borrower is late in making its debt repayments?

At Minterest, we understand the various challenges faced by small and medium sized enterprises. Our priority is to ensure that debt payments are made on time and our portfolio management team keeps track of upcoming repayments with active borrower engagement on such matters. However, we also recognise that there will be situations where debt repayments cannot be made on time. In summary, our Platform Terms provide for 3 possible grace periods for debt repayments to be made. The late fees imposed increases from the 1st to the 3rd grace periods. You may wish to read and understand the specific terms governing late payments. These terms can be found in paragraph 11, Appendix 3 (Loan Terms) at page 33. Click here to read the Platform Terms.

Participating Members’ Updates from Minterest

Minterest will update Participating Members when a loan repayment is late and have entered into its 1st Grace Period. Members will be informed when such an update takes place and can download the document from their Dashboard. Further updates will be provided when there is a development in respect of the late payment e.g. the repayment was made and Participating Members' wallet have been credited with funds. Otherwise, an update will be provided if the repayment goes into its 2nd Grace Period and so on. 

We will work with the borrower to find a satisfactory solution to repay the amount outstanding, failing which a debt collection agency may be appointed to recover the outstanding amount. Notwithstanding the above, you will have direct recourse to the borrower and the personal guarantee(s) that was(were) provided as part of the loan.

Subject to certain terms and conditions, you can take legal action against a borrower directly to recover the amount owing to you when there is a default in payment.

We have been advised that investing in Loan Requests via our platform will not contravene the Moneylenders Act. Participating in invoice financing is essentially the purchase of invoices and as such, the considerations of moneylending are not relevant.

Minterest is sufficiently funded and led by a strong management team made up of very experienced former bankers to ensure the operations are run in an efficient and effective manner, including compliance with relevant regulations. However, in the event that Minterest, for unforseen circumstances, ceases operations, funds deposited by the investors will still continue to be handled by the escrow agent. The financing arrangements between the borrowers and lenders shall also remain valid and we will work with a reputable agency to fulfill the service duties of the platform, if necessary. The risk of investors’ monies being unaccountable for remains low as the escrow agent appointed is a licenced trust company with significant operations in Singapore and globally.

The registration and acceptance requirements of an investor and a borrower are very different. As such, one account cannot be used for both investing and borrowing. You would need to register for an investor account and a borrower account separately should you wish to undertake activities related to both account types.

For more details about invoice financing, you can click here.

At Minterest, we are continuously improving to make the investment process for our Members’ a more enjoyable one. As such, Members can access the Minterest's auto invest facility where investments are automatically allocated to Members subject to their pre-selected investment criteria, available funds in the wallet and the auto invest allocation algorithm. Auto invest Members will have priority when it comes to making offers to invest in a particular Funding Request. This will automatically be done for the Members on the criteria set out above.

What is auto invest facility?

The auto invest facility at Minterest is a functionality that allows Members to pre-select their investment criteria upfront and thereafter, whenever a new deal is launched, the participating auto invest Member will be allocated an investment amount based on his or her pre-selected criteria made on the Minterest platform.  It should be noted that the actual amount allocated will be subject to the auto invest parameters, Member’s available funds and Minterest’s Auto invest Allocation Algorithm.  Members can enable or disable this functionality at any point in time on their Dashboard at the Auto Invest tab.  

How does auto invest work?

It basically hands the hard work of making an offer to participate in Funding Requests to the Minterest engine. Subject to Members’ pre-selected investment parameters, available funds in the wallet and Minterest’s auto invest allocation algorithm, an investment amount will be allocated to the Member and the Member will automatically invest in the Funding Facility when the deal is launched.

Can I opt out of a Funding Request that meets my auto invest pre-selected parameters?

A Member can turn off or disable the auto invest functionality prior to the offering being launched. Notifications on an upcoming launch of a Funding Requests are sent out about 5 to 6 hours prior to launch. Funding Requests are typically launched at 5.55pm Singapore time and Members are advised to disable the auto invest function at least 2 hours before the launch (i.e. typically, at 3.55pm) of the offering if they do not wish to participate in the deal.

Members are encouraged to read and understand further information relating to the Minterest's auto invest facility here.

Please click here to find out more about the auto invest allocation algorithm and how you can set up the auto invest functionality for your Minterest account. For video instructions on setting up auto invest, please click here.

Please click here to set up auto invest facility now.

Please click here to sign up.

Simply register, indicate that you are signing up as a borrower and provide the required information to open a Client Account. Once opened, you can use the account to create Funding Requests for posting on our platform, subject to credit analysis and approval.

We welcome any entity that is a company or limited liability partnership registered with ACRA with at least one director is a Singaporean / Permanent Resident or foreigner residing in Singapore. Our preference is for borrowers with a track record with profitability but we will assess each entity on a case-by-case basis and assist in structuring the fund-raising to ensure as much success as possible. At our discretion, we may accept borrowers with foreign ownership.

In order for us to assess your application, please submit the following documents:

• ACRA Business Profile;
• Memorandum & Articles of Association;
• Last 2 years Financial Statements, or Management Accounts where applicable.

In addition, please provide details of your customer and expected invoice(s) value if you are applying for invoice financing.

Information will include:

• Your company’s principal activities, purpose of the loan and source of repayment;
• Key terms of the Funding Request including loan size, tenor and interest rate;
• Any collateral to be provided to secure the loan;
• A description of your company’s profile as well as the guarantors;
• The main risks and mitigants associated with investing in your loan;
• Financial highlights of your company, including the preceding two years P&L Account and Balance Sheet (if available);
• Repayment profile of the loan or invoice financing.

Minimum loan amount is $50,000. A lower amount may be considered on a case-by-case basis.

We currently provide two main types of loan structures:-

1. Regular Payment

Borrowers seeking working capital would typically be advised to select this type of loan.  It allows borrowers to manage their cash flows over a financial year so that they can take advantage of business opportunities that may come their way.

This type of loan requires the borrower to repay the loan and interest in equal instalments on a regular basis e.g.monthly, similar to payments on a mortgage loan.  Loan tenor is generally for up to 12 months.  Loan tenor for more than 12 months can also be considered.

2. Single Payment

Borrowers that have lump sum cash receipts at certain points in time are optimal candidates for this type of loan.  For example, a lump sum invoice payment in three months’ time or a cash inflow as a result of an event happening e.g. organising a conference or receiving a grant.  This type of loans allow borrowers to have access to critical cash flows to pay suppliers and other creditors while waiting for a significant amount of cash receipts occurring in the future.

Borrowers are only required to pay the principal and interest at the end of the loan tenor.  Loan tenor for this type of financing is generally no more than 12 months.  Depending on specific requirements and business circumstances, tenor of more than 12 months can be considered.

We currently provide two main types of loan structures:-

1. Regular Payment

Loan tenor is generally for up to 12 months.  Loan tenor for more than 12 months can also be considered.

2. Single Payment

Loan tenor for this type of financing is generally no more than 12 months.

Borrowers can expect to pay an interest rate of between 8% and 18% per annum. Considerations such as tenor, type of loan structure, source of cash for repayment, historical track record of company and general macro economic factors will determine the actual interest rate payable.

For invoice financing, factoring rates could be as low as 0.5% per month.

Minterest will charge a processing fee calculated based on the loan amount. This fee, starting from 2%, will be payable upfront when the loan is disbursed. Apart from the processing fee, there are no other charges payable to Minterest. For example, if your processing fee is 3%, you will receive $97,000 if your loan size is $100,000.

For invoice financing, a processing fee will be charged when putting in place the invoice financing facility. Each factoring request will incur an administrative fee. These fees are very competitive to ensure that your overall factoring rates are kept low.

By clicking and agreeing to our platform terms, you are bound by the terms governing borrowers and lenders. This has the same legal effect as signing a loan contract.  In addition, depending on requirements, you may need to sign certain other documents that may be required for the loan to take effect.

A borrower can make multiple Funding Requests at any one time. The ability to do so will be determined by Minterest at our sole discretion.

Minterest has its own customised loan processing procedures to assess the viability of Funding Requests. Main considerations when approving a Funding Request include the profile of promoters/management team, identifiable cash flows, business track record and macro-economic factors.

Once a Funding Request is successfully accepted by Minterest, it will be posted on the platform. Investors will be invited to make an offer to participate in the Funding Request. The period of the offer will normally be two weeks unless you prefer it to be otherwise. The period of offer will automatically lapse once the Funding Request is fully subscribed. The date of disbursement of the loan proceeds will be determined by yourself when a Funding Request is made initially – this can either be within 48 working hours of a Funding Request being fully subscribed or a specified date of your choosing.

Loan Requests that are at least 75% subscribed at the end of the period of offer will continue to be funded i.e. you will receive the loan proceeds even if it is not fully subscribed. Loan Requests that have a participation rate of less than 75% will be subject to further discussions – decision will be made to either extend the offer period, proceed with taking the loan or abandon the Loan Request.

For invoice financing, 100% of the offering must be taken up by investors before it will be considered successful.

We do not expect many borrowers to be making a prepayment on their loans.  As such, we have not provided for prepayment of loans in our Platform Terms.

When a late repayment occurs, you are encouraged to make the missed payment as soon as you can. We will work with you to identify and resolve the reasons for a late repayment. You will be charged a late payment fee amounting to 2% of the loan principal outstanding or $2,000, whichever is higher.

We will work with you to find a satisfactory solution to repay the amount outstanding, failing which a debt collection agency may be appointed to recover the outstanding amount. Notwithstanding the above, the lenders will have direct recourse to your company, any collateral that was provided and the personal guarantee(s) that was(were) provided as part of the loan.

A personal guarantee is required for all Loan Requests except for Convertible Loans. Personal guarantee is also required to guarantee the repurchase of invoices pursuant to an invoice financing.

We welcome referrals. A referral fee of between $1,000 and $2,000 will be paid to you should the company you referred be successful in raising funds through our platform. Minterest reserves the right to amend or alter this incentive at any point in time.

You would be required to repurchase the invoice(s) in the event that your customer does not make a full payment on the invoice(s). Your repurchase obligations will only arise 60 days after the maturity date in your invoice financing terms.