The Problem I Set Out to Solve
The financial brokerage industry in Singapore has a reputation problem — and it earned it. Too many brokers operate as commission-driven intermediaries: take the client's information, submit it to whichever lender pays the highest referral fee, and move on. The client gets a loan, but not necessarily the right one. The broker gets paid, regardless of the outcome.
I spent 20 years inside this system — in corporate banking and moneylending — working in credit risk, portfolio management, and business development. I saw how lending decisions were made, which borrowers were well-served, and which were quietly steered toward products that served the institution more than the client. The pattern was consistent enough that I stopped being surprised by it and started being motivated to change it.
CraftWise was founded on a straightforward conviction: a broker who genuinely puts the client's interest first will build a better business than one who chases commissions. Not because altruism is a strategy, but because trust compounds. One client well-served becomes a referral. One referral partner who trusts your judgment becomes a channel. The economics of integrity are better than the economics of extraction — they just take longer to prove.
What I Bring to the Table
Credit risk experience: I've sat on the lender's side of the table. I understand how banks assess applications, where credit policies have flexibility, and where they don't. This means I can tell you before you apply whether your profile fits — and if it doesn't, exactly what needs to change.
Portfolio management: Understanding how lenders manage their loan books means understanding which borrower profiles they're actively seeking and which they're quietly avoiding. This changes by quarter, by sector, and by internal targets. Knowing the landscape from the inside makes matching sharper.
Business development across banking and moneylending: I've built relationships across both regulated lender types — and increasingly into private credit. CraftWise's lender network is broad because my career was. This is the practical foundation of unbiased matching: you can only recommend the best option if you actually have access to all the options.
How CraftWise Is Different
CraftWise is not a loan aggregator. We don't collect your details and blast them to ten lenders hoping one bites. We are an advisory-led brokerage — every engagement starts with understanding your situation, continues with structured analysis, and ends with a recommendation we can stand behind.
Three commitments define how we work:
We will always strive for a win-win outcome. If a bank will serve you well and a broker adds no value, we'll tell you to go direct. If a lender is wrong for you, we won't recommend them regardless of the commission. Our advice is shaped by your interest, not our income.
Our fees are transparent and proportionate. For straightforward matching, borrowers pay nothing — the lender pays us. When we charge a borrower fee, it's only in cases where we deliver value the market couldn't provide otherwise, and it's capped at a fraction of what the industry typically charges. The full breakdown is on our fee transparency page.
We plan the exit before we plan the loan. Every property-backed facility, every complex structure, every bridging arrangement — we define how you'll repay or refinance before we recommend you borrow. This is the advisory function that separates a broker from a matchmaker.
CraftWise Pte. Ltd.
Registered in Singapore. UEN 202612995C.
308 Telok Kurau Road #05-31, Singapore 423858.
sebastian.lau@craftwise.sg · +65 9756 9804
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