New capital mobilization solutions are opening up for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as banks expand unsecured lending options in line with the spirit of Resolution 68. Businesses that move toward transparent financial management will have significantly more opportunities to access capital at much more reasonable costs than in the past.

Resolution 68, issued on May 4, 2025 by the Politburo, directs commercial banks to expand unsecured lending to businesses based on their ability to manage cash flows. Under this new legal framework, banks can set credit limits based on income statements, value-added tax (VAT) declarations, and e-invoices. By connecting Application Programming Interface (API) data between banks, accounting software providers, tax authorities, and the Credit Information Center (CIC), data verification and customer credibility assessments can be conducted instantly, helping banks cut around half of the personnel costs involved in credit appraisal. A number of banks such as BIDV, Techcombank and MBBank have taken the lead in implementing the SME support goals of Resolution 68 by partnering with MISA to roll out rapid and flexible lending solutions via the MISA Lending platform. SMEs using MISA accounting software only need to activate the loan connection feature; the system will automatically collect three years of financial reports, cash flow data, and e-invoices, then analyze them using an AI scoring model. Notably, the entire pre-approval process is fully automated and conducted entirely on a digital platform. Providing unsecured lending based on data management One of the biggest breakthroughs of Resolution 68 is the official recognition of cash flows and intangible assets, such as brand value and intellectual property, as collateral for credit approval. This marks an important shift in resolving longstanding paradoxes related to the specific business models of SMEs, many of which generate high revenues and maintain stable cash flows yet are denied disbursement due to a lack of collateral, especially real estate assets. Additionally, with the integration of accounting reports, e-invoices, and point-of-sale (POS) systems, banks can quickly and reliably determine key financial indicators such as the debt service coverage ratio (DSCR), return on sales (ROS), and revenue growth rate. This allows credit limits to be set based on pre-tax profit (EBIT) and cash flows, giving banks a more accurate picture of an SME’s financial health, particularly those operating with high liquidity needs rather than heavy investment in fixed assets. Moreover, credit guarantee funds, now assigned a critical role under Resolution 68, help raise the creditworthiness of SMEs and are ready to absorb losses in case of loan defaults. This enables banks to increase unsecured lending limits by two to three times while still maintaining low risk-weighted asset (RWA) ratios in compliance with Basel II capital adequacy requirements (CAR). Guarantee fees are typically below 1% per year, much lower than the costs of preparing collateral documents or handling asset foreclosures, essentially acting as a form of affordable credit insurance for businesses. Compared to traditional lending models, this new credit framework for SMEs distributes responsibility among banks, guarantee funds, and the borrowing enterprises themselves. It also serves as an effective “carrot” to encourage greater financial transparency among SMEs. In addition, the complete API integration between banks, the Tax Department, and the CIC has shortened the time required to verify a company’s information from 24 hours to just a few minutes, marking a major leap in operational efficiency. Alongside this, the Green Credit Program initiated by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) is offering preferential interest rates to SMEs that meet ESG standards. This collaborative model creates a win-win scenario: banks maintain low-risk asset standards under Basel regulations, businesses enjoy reduced capital costs, and Vietnam moves closer to its net-zero emissions goal before 2050. Strong tech infrastructure is needed to power AI scoring To better understand the unsecured SME loan products being jointly implemented, it is useful to examine the foundation of automatic credit scoring models. AI Scoring is not new. It has already been successfully applied to unsecured consumer lending. Individuals simply provided personal, employment, and family background information to be approved for loans. Now, that same automated appraisal and approval technology is being extended to businesses though it requires more intensive support. According to data from MISA, the MISA Lending platform has provided credit limits to 5,000 businesses, with disbursements totaling VND25 trillion. Notably, the time required to apply for loan evaluation is just five minutes, and approval results are returned within a day. The scoring system uses over 50 financial variables and 20 behavioral indicators, including metrics like overdraft frequency (OD), the rate of e-invoice usage, and the frequency of accounting entry edits. Thanks to instant appraisal capabilities, the operational costs of this lending model are significantly lower than those of traditional SME loans, which demand substantial human effort for appraisal and loan monitoring. These cost savings allow banks to offer more competitive interest rates to businesses participating in the program. To qualify for higher unsecured limits and lower interest rates, businesses must be willing to forgo some familiar short-term benefits. First, they must commit to tax and accounting transparency—100% e-invoicing, ledger updates within seven days, and on-time VAT declarations. Even one instance of late filing can lower a company’s credit score, leading to higher interest rates. Second, SMEs need to optimize their capital turnover, minimize days sales outstanding (DSO), manage payables efficiently, and maintain a high DSCR. Third, businesses must be willing to connect their data via API with third parties—tax authorities, social insurance agencies, and point-of-sale (POS) systems—essentially exchanging revenue transparency for increased creditworthiness. All criteria revolve around key metrics for assessing financial health (revenue growth, profit margins, inventory turnover days, DSO, current ratio), financial transparency (percentage of revenue conducted via e-invoice), debt repayment ability (DSCR and debt-to-total-asset ratio), and financial compliance (on-time VAT filing, on-time social insurance payments). These metrics together offer a comprehensive view of a company’s financial credibility. Each metric has a predefined scoring framework that allows the bank to evaluate how well a business performs in each area. Understanding these evaluation criteria used in banks’ credit scoring models is crucial for SMEs to improve their financial management. These quantifiable metrics can serve as benchmarks for measuring improvements in financial transparency, helping SMEs build targeted action plans. Since the scores are measured in real-time, businesses can continually monitor their transparency rating and link each financial improvement to actual savings in borrowing costs.