How AI is Reshaping SME Lending in Asia

Why the next wave of private credit will be data-driven, inclusive and faster than ever

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the lifeblood of Asia’s emerging economies—driving innovation, employment and local resilience. Yet, these businesses face a persistent challenge: access to affordable, timely credit.

For decades, traditional financial institutions have underserved SMEs due to high underwriting costs, insufficient credit histories, and the perceived risk of informal business models. But today, artificial intelligence (AI) is flipping that narrative—bringing speed, scale and sophistication to SME credit.

1. Smarter Credit Decisions Through Alternative Data

Traditional underwriting relies on audited financials and historical bank statements—data many small businesses simply don’t have. AI changes the game by ingesting alternative, real-time data sources, such as:

• E-commerce sales patterns.

• GST filings and digital invoices.

• Mobile wallet activity or utility bill payments.

• Geo-tagged supply chain and logistics data.

At TIGER, our AI models assess this data using machine learning to build dynamic risk scores—giving underbanked SMEs a credit identity, often for the first time.

2.Instant Decisioning with AI Underwriting Engines

Manual underwriting takes weeks. With AI, decisions can be made in minutes.

TIGER’s underwriting stack includes:

• Natural language processing (NLP) to scan contracts, KYC documents and vendor agreements.

• Anomaly detection to flag potential fraud.

• Predictive models that assess forward-looking cash flows instead of just historicals.

This enables faster disbursals, especially for trade receivables and invoice-based finance, where timing is critical.

3. Enabling ESG-Aligned Growth

AI doesn’t just enhance risk management—it supports responsible lending too. Our ESG scoring system combines satellite imagery, carbon data and sectoral benchmarks to ensure:

• Financing flows to climate-smart businesses.

• Borrowers meet social compliance thresholds.

• Lending supports UN SDGs, especially Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and Goal 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure).

4. Bridging the $1.5 Trillion Credit Gap

According to the IFC, there’s a $1.5 trillion SME finance gap in Asia. AI is our most powerful tool to bridge it—by lowering cost-to-serve, unlocking new borrower profiles and enabling automated monitoring.

Through the TIGER Asia Credit Opportunities Fund, we’re deploying capital into this opportunity with a unique edge:

Private credit meets precision underwriting. Impact meets innovation.

5. The Future Is Now

AI isn’t a buzzword in SME lending anymore—it’s infrastructure. Funds like TIGER are proving that technology-driven underwriting isn't just faster, it's smarter—and it’s the only way to meet Asia’s vast, fast-moving demand for credit.

Want to learn more? Contact us to explore how institutional capital can ride the wave of AI-powered SME growth across Asia.