There are two main differences: The term of the loan and the maturity of the repayment.

The SME short term loan is a bullet loan, meaning that interest payment and amortization are made at the end of the term. Contrary a regular SME loan is an annuity loan (installment loan) that is paid back in monthly installments, meaning that every month, an interest payment on the outstanding amount is due and part of the loan is paid back. This leads to equal installments, simplifying the planning of liquidity.

The term of the loan is between 1-12 months for a SME short term loan and between one to 60 months (5 years) for an installment loan.