Thailand Launches AI Lending Program to Help Small Businesses Access Credit

The Finance Ministry has unveiled the AI Whisper Loan programme, which uses actual sales data from the Puang Muan mobile app to assess small business creditworthiness and unlock financing for entrepreneurs who lack formal financial documentation. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprayat revealed that the government is working with the Office of the Fiscal Policy and financial institutions to operate the Thailand Helping Thailand Plus programme, which supports purchasing power and economic activity. However, the government looks beyond immediate sales support and aims to strengthen entrepreneurs' long-term competitive capacity. The key tool driving this is the AI innovation called Whisper, which has been in service for three months and helps entrepreneurs analyze sales, forecast income trends, plan business strategy, and compare their performance with neighbouring or similar businesses. Many entrepreneurs currently face a critical obstacle in accessing capital: although they have real income and sales figures, they lack financial documentation in the format that financial institutions require for assessment. The AI Whisper Loan programme bridges this gap by using actual sales reports as data to evaluate business potential in partnership with participating financial institutions. Winit Visetsuwannaphum, Director of the Office of the Fiscal Policy and Finance Ministry spokesperson, stated that partnerships have been established with leading financial institutions and the Small Industry Credit Guarantee Corporation to develop loan products and guarantee measures tailored to entrepreneur behaviour. Krung Thai Bank is offering two primary programmes for Puang Muan merchants: SME Small Size Loan for wholesale, retail, service, and online businesses with a maximum credit limit of three million baht and an initial interest rate of 3.5 per cent per annum (fixed for the first two years); and the Rotating Loan for small traders with a maximum limit of 500,000 baht and an initial interest rate. Contact information for inquiries is provided for six participating financial institutions.