The quote you lost was not because your price was wrong. It was because you could not commit to the inventory purchase in time. Your supplier needed confirmation within 48 hours; your bank needed three weeks for approval. By the time the funds came through, the opportunity had moved to a competitor who could say yes faster.
For Singapore SMEs, speed of financing can be worth more than a few percentage points in interest. The math is straightforward once you stop looking only at rates and start calculating the value of what speed enables.
The true cost of waiting
Delay has a price, and that price often exceeds the interest on a faster loan.
Consider inventory discounts. A supplier offers 15% off for bulk purchase, but the offer expires in five days. If you cannot secure financing in time, you pay full price. On a $100,000 order, that lost discount is $15,000. Even if a faster loan costs $3,000 more in interest than a slower bank facility would have, the net benefit of speed is $12,000.
Consider contract timing. You win a project that requires significant capital to execute, but the contract requires you to demonstrate financial capacity within a week. If your financing takes longer than the deadline, you lose the contract entirely. The interest rate becomes irrelevant when the alternative is zero revenue.
Consider equipment opportunities. A competitor closes and liquidates assets at 40% of market value. The liquidator will not wait for bank approvals—they want to clear inventory and close the estate. Cash in hand wins; pending financing loses.
Consider seasonal windows. Chinese New Year orders need to be placed months in advance. Christmas inventory has a deadline. If financing arrives after the ordering window closes, you miss the season entirely. The interest cost is trivial compared to a quarter of lost sales.
Speed is return on investment when opportunity has a deadline. The question is not just what the loan costs, but what delay costs.
Why traditional financing takes time
Traditional bank financing takes longer not because banks are inefficient, but because their processes are designed for different risk profiles and loan types.
Property valuations for collateral require professional assessors, scheduling, and reporting. This alone typically adds two to four weeks. Multiple committee approvals ensure that larger facilities receive appropriate oversight, but each committee meets on its own schedule. Extensive documentation review catches discrepancies and reduces defaults, but thoroughness takes time. Physical document requirements—wet signatures, original certificates—add logistics. Business site visits verify that the operation matches the application.
These processes exist for good reasons. For large, long-term facilities secured by property, they make sense. But for established businesses needing short-term working capital, these same processes may cost more in opportunity value than they save in interest rate reduction.
When alternative lenders make sense
Alternative lenders have streamlined their processes around a different model—one optimised for speed without sacrificing appropriate diligence.
Digital applications take minutes rather than hours. Credezo's application takes approximately 15 minutes to complete online. Automated document processing extracts and analyses information faster than manual review. Unsecured lending eliminates property valuation delays entirely—there is no collateral to assess. Focused credit assessment, designed around specific business profiles, enables 48-hour decisions rather than multi-week committee cycles. Fast disbursement means funds arrive in three to five business days from application.
This is not about bypassing due diligence. Alternative lenders still assess creditworthiness, verify documentation, and evaluate repayment capacity. The efficiency comes from process design, not from reduced rigor.
Certain scenarios particularly favour alternative lending: time-sensitive inventory purchases where discounts or availability are limited, bridging delayed customer payments when you need to cover costs before collections arrive, short-term project financing where the repayment source is clear, and seasonal working capital needs that arise on predictable but tight timelines.
Questions to ask about speed
When evaluating fast financing options, get specific answers.
What is your realistic timeline from application to funds in my account? Not the best case—the typical case. What could delay this timeline? Missing documents, additional verification, approval exceptions? Do you require property collateral? If yes, valuation will add weeks regardless of other efficiencies. Can I apply fully online, or will I need to visit an office or submit physical documents? What documents do you need, and in what format?
The answers tell you whether speed is genuine or marketing.
Key takeaway
The cheapest loan is not always the best deal. When opportunity has a deadline, speed creates value that spreadsheets do not always capture. A loan that costs slightly more but arrives in time beats a cheaper loan that arrives too late.
Smart business owners maintain both relationships—a traditional banker for long-term needs and larger facilities, and an alternative lender ready for time-sensitive opportunities. The goal is not to replace one with the other, but to have the right tool for each situation.
If speed matters for your current financing need, apply with Credezo for a 48-hour credit decision and funding within days.