DBS and Singtel have launched a suite of resource packages to help SMEs in Singapore enhance their capabilities with e-commerce and cashless payments, as part of the 99%SME campaign.
The campaign will also rally consumers to shop with SMEs during the SME Week from 14-23 October.
The campaign, which is in its second year, is supported by SPRING Singapore, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), trade associations and chambers of commerce and industry. The official media partner is MediaCorp and MasterCard is a strategic sponsor.
Joyce Tee, Group Head of SME Banking, DBS Bank said: “The 99% SME campaign is a result of a nationwide, public-private-partnership that supports the government’s emphasis on building local capability as SMEs now play an even more crucial role to shape the future of Singapore’s economy. Together with our partners, we are focusing our efforts on helping SMEs build capabilities in e-commerce, become more efficient by adopting cashless solutions and gain new skills with specially designed training programmes.”
The inaugural campaign last year saw over 1,600 SMEs sign up to participate in the SME Week and helped reach more than a million people through social media to garner public pledges of support. As a result, some SMEs have reported increased sales of up to 50% during that period.
Andrew Lim, Managing Director, Business Group, Group Enterprise at Singtel said, “The previous year’s campaign results exceeded our expectations and reinforced our resolve to help our SMEs. We will build on last year’s momentum with our partners to help even more SMEs and go beyond our support we offered previously. Through the resource package this year, Singtel will help participating SMEs hone their competitive edge by going digital with a simple and affordable e-commerce solution and training courses. To jumpstart their growth, we will rally our many customers and employees in Singapore to lend their support to the SMEs.”
Ted Tan, Deputy Chief Executive, SPRING Singapore, said: “SPRING remains a strong supporter of the 99% SME Campaign as it enters its second year, and we are delighted to collaborate with DBS and Singtel to drive capability upgrading efforts in our local SMEs to help them grow. The efforts to drive the adoption of cashless and e-commerce solutions are critical especially in this age of increasingly digitally-savvy consumers. We encourage the business community to participate in this campaign and leverage the platforms to build up business capabilities and skillsets to address the market needs.”
Cashless and e-commerce solutions
SMEs can look forward to a suite of resource packages with preferential pricing and fee waivers to help them adopt cashless and e-commerce solutions. These solutions aim to increase productivity, reduce staff workload, improve customer experience and help businesses reach new customers.
DBS, in partnership with Applied Mesh, will be offering the first 10 participating SMEs in the food & beverage industry a sponsorship package as well as 25% discount on the monthly subscription fee when they adopt DBS FasTrack. DBS FasTrack is a payment and ordering solution that allows F&B SMEs to quickly launch their own mobile apps where customers can place advance orders and payment, eliminating queue times for customers. Chain F&B outlets such as Old Tea Hut, OKG Express and Five Star Hainanese Chicken Rice Restaurant have adopted this solution since it was commercially available last month. The solution is pre-qualified under IDA’s Enhanced iSPRINT scheme as an Emerging tech solution for the F&B sector to help eligible SMEs offset the cost of deployment.
To give participating SMEs a good head start to e-commerce, Singtel will be providing the first 500, with a complete and affordable e-commerce solution, under the Singtel e-commerce Solution resource package, for 99 cents a day during the initial six months. Through workshops and hands-on facilitation, the resource package can help SMEs to easily create online stores, in a matter of hours for some and a few days for others. In addition, Singtel will provide marketing training for SMEs to help them attract and retain online customer eyeballs to sustain their sites.
To encourage SMEs to adopt cashless payment solutions, DBS and NETS are offering annual fee, set-up fee and terminal subscription fee waivers totalling SGD1,036 in the first year for the first 250 new merchants who sign up for the unified NETS and DBS Card Acceptance service. With the new unified service, merchants only need to install one terminal for both NETS and credit card payments.
DBS will also extend to all participating SMEs an exclusive SGD10,000 overdraft facility with an attractive 6% interest rate, which is one of the lowest interest rates for overdrafts available in the market currently, to help small enterprises optimise their cash flow.
