Direct Lending Announces #DIRECTBANTU+, A Collaborative CSR Program to Ease Malaysians’ Financial Burden During FMCO

KUALA LUMPUR, 3 June 2021  – Direct Lending, an online personal lending marketplace, is launching #DIRECTBANTU+ to help ease the Rakyat’s financial burden during the recently announced full lockdown (FMCO). With a mission to make loan processes safer, more accessible & affordable for those who need it, Direct Lending is offering an opportunity to support both loan borrowers & hardworking individuals with special cash rebates & income opportunities through this DirectBantu+ campaign. This CSR program that runs for the entire month of June 2021 will economically-empower Malaysians through the following:

• Special cash rebate up to RM700 for all customers.
• Referral program – opportunity to earn RM1,000 for 3 successful introductions.
• Learn and explore new income opportunities (in gig economy and eCommerce) with #DIRECTBANTU+’s partners: AVANA, GoGet, Kiddocare, SaltyCustoms and XOX Berhad (in partnership with Emicro Capital Sdn Bhd).

With many businesses put to a full halt by FMCO, there are many silent cries within the B40 community who have lost their means of income to provide for their families. With the loss of household income – we will soon see a spike within the B40 community in pawning assets and an increase in loan applications to sustain these challenging times.

Affordable financing shouldn’t be paper-and-pen conventional with physical document application and signing. With the FMCO currently in place, more of us are staying safe and being more careful by staying home and making online orders and applications. Those who need financial aid during this full lockdown can apply for a personal loan within the comfort and safety of their own home and at the same time get a special cash rebate up to RM700 for each successful applicant done through the Direct Lending platform, under this DirectBantu+ program.

“We hope that this will help ease their financing commitment at the moment. In addition, we also want to bring up the spirit of ‘#KitaJagaKita’, allowing the community to help one another by referring this reliable means of financing to their network of friends, families or even colleagues. Under a specially created referral program, a referee will get RM250 for each successful referral and RM1,000 for cumulative 3 referrals for civil servant lending”, said Hui Yik Seong, Director & Founder of Direct Lending Sdn Bhd.

In its efforts to further amplify this initiative, Direct Lending is partnering with AVANA, GoGet, Kiddocare, Yeefu by SaltyCustoms and XOX Berhad (in partnership with Emicro Capital Sdn Bhd) who will be offering income opportunities to the resilient and hardworking communities, where they can participate in e-commerce, gig economy and last mile delivery sectors that will thrive during and after the movement restriction periods. For example, one can be a reseller on AVANA or XOX, or earn extra income flexibly as certified babysitters on Kiddocare or GoGetter on GoGet platform.  

Followings are feedbacks from a few of the partners:

1. 1. Luqman Adris, Co-Founder and CEO of AVANA: “AVANA believes in placing our merchants in the forefront, and we understand how the pandemic has impacted businesses. We are excited to partner with Direct Lending for their #DirectBantu+ program through our Explore reseller programme,  where anyone can sign up to be a reseller of more than 100 local brands and products listed in AVANA. This is one of our many efforts to boost the Malaysian economy through the rise of social commerce.”  
   2. Nadira Yusoff, Founder & CEO of Kiddocare: “Kiddocare is not only a platform that acts as a tool to empower parents, but it also economically empowers our female babysitters, as this is the community we want to cultivate. We have many Kiddocarers who have successfully generated high monthly income or are able to improve their life through the income made as Kiddcarers. We are continuing the effort to help more women earn income especially with this full lockdown in place where many people’s income will be affected through this partnership with #DirectBantu+.” 
   3. Francesca Chia, Co-founder of GoGet: “My hope is that industry stakeholders with a similar goal of allowing anyone to earn safely, can come together and work alongside us.”    

THE FINANCIAL IMPACT OF FULL MOVEMENT CONTROL ORDER DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

With the recent re-implementation of the Full Movement Control Order (FMCO), many continue to be financially strained especially as there are many businesses who are still taking on losses and have yet to recover from the many iterations of the Movement Control Order (MCO) since March 2020. As of February 2021, there are an estimated 775,500 unemployed individuals in the nation with the current unemployment rate in Malaysia at 4.8% based on the recent report by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM). This shows that many have lost their jobs during the start of the pandemic and thus, have yet to recover from this financial burden and a source of income to support themselves or their families.

Added Yik, “This is a challenging time for most of us and the idea behind our #DIRECTBANTU+ program is to help ease the financial burden caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this critical period, other than playing our part to stay home and stay safe, hardworking Malaysians can turn crisis into opportunity, adopt new skills and participate in the new economy, to survive and thrive in the new normal”.

The initiative is not the first time the Cradle-funded startup provided financial empowerment in response to the COVID-19 crisis, having previously launched the first round of #DIRECTBANTU in October 2020.

If you would like to find out more about #DIRECTBANTU+, please visit www.directlending.com.my/directbantuplus or alternatively, visit Direct Lending’s Facebook and Instagram page for more updates on the program.

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