The Enterprise Financing Scheme is a Singapore government initiative under which Enterprise Singapore shares the default risk with participating banks. The loan itself is still issued by the bank, assessed by the bank and approved or declined by the bank. The government does not lend the money and does not guarantee your loan.
What risk-sharing actually does
Because Enterprise Singapore absorbs a share of the loss if a borrower defaults, participating banks can extend credit to smaller businesses that would otherwise sit outside their appetite. That is the entire mechanism. It changes what a bank is willing to consider; it does not change who decides.
This is also why the paperwork rewards a well-structured case: the scheme widens the door, but you still have to walk through it on your own numbers.
The facilities under it
EFS is an umbrella covering several facility types. The one most Singapore SMEs encounter is the SME Working Capital Loan. Others cover fixed assets, trade, project financing and more. Which one fits depends on what the money is actually for — see the full list on our financing page.
Core scheme criteria
- Registered and operating in Singapore
- At least 30% local equity held directly or indirectly by Singaporeans or Singapore PRs
- Group annual sales turnover not exceeding S$500m
- SME definition: group revenue up to S$100m, or a maximum employment size of 200
Source: Enterprise Singapore, Enterprise Financing Scheme. Published figures may change.
The common misunderstanding
EFS financing is government-backed, not government-approved. Nobody at a government agency looks at your application and says yes. A bank does. We spell that distinction out in what “government-backed” actually means, because getting it wrong changes what you expect from the process.
Talk to us about your case
Every business is different, and the only honest way to answer “can we get this funded” is to look at your numbers. Send us your company name, roughly how much you need and what it is for, and we will tell you whether there is a case worth building. Speak to us, or read how it works.
Cornerstone Capital Services Pte. Ltd. (UEN 202622107K) is a business financing consultancy and is not a bank or a licensed moneylender. Loan approval, final quantum, tenure and interest rates are determined solely by the participating financial institutions and are subject to their credit assessment. Scheme figures shown are published by Enterprise Singapore and may change.
