First Circle, a Philippine financing company focused on small and midsize enterprises, secured a 300 million pesos (US$4.87 million) credit facility from Taiwan-based Cathay United Bank in April 2026.

The funding will support First Circle’s lending to Philippine SMEs.

The deal is First Circle’s first financing partnership with a Taiwanese bank.

The company said the facility will strengthen its funding as demand rises for working-capital loans, business loans, and solar financing.

First Circle is a Securities and Exchange Commission-regulated financing company rather than a bank.

It offers unsecured online credit lines and loans of up to 20 million pesos (US$325,000) to SMEs, and said it has extended 16 billion pesos (US$260 million) in loans to more than 5,000 Philippine businesses.

Small-business credit access remains limited in the Philippines.

The International Finance Corporation, citing the Asian Development Bank SME Monitor 2023, said SME credit penetration stood at 2.2% of gross domestic product in 2023.

For Cathay United Bank, which opened its Manila Branch in 2015, the transaction adds to its corporate banking activity in the Philippines.

🔗 Source: First Circle

Recent First Circle developments