Lendr and Camalig Bank bring mobile loan convenience to the Bicol Region

Digital collaboration for growth in the countryside. The Camalig Bank, Inc. and Lendr, the pioneering digital lending platform of FINTQ, formally launch the Mobile Salary Loan program in Legazpi City, Albay, which will help Bicolanos gain instant access to loans at the touch of their fingertips. In the photo are (from left) Camalig Bank Chairman and President Miel Moraleda; FINTQ Managing Director Lito Villanueva; Camalig Bank COO Geraldine Moraleda; and Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal.

 

[17 MAY 2017] LEGAZPI CITY, ALBAY – The Camalig Bank, Inc. (A Rural Bank), together with FINTQ, the financial technology arm of PLDT and Smart’s Voyager Innovations, has rolled out mobile-based loan applications to borrowers in Bicol through the pioneering and award-winning digital lending platform Lendr.

With the help of Lendr, qualified Department of Education teachers, government workers, and private-sector employees are now able to apply for loans using Internet-connected mobile devices and get notifications for their loan applications all within the same day.

“We’re happy to partner with Camalig Bank in this effort of empowering borrowers in low-income cities and municipalities in the Bicol region through mobile-based digital lending via Lendr. Through a fast and convenient application system, many are now gaining access to formal finance which will help them participate in this rapidly growing digital economy,” said Lito Villanueva, Managing Director at FINTQ.

 

No need to file leave

The province of Bicol, which is composed of Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate, and Sorsogon, features a geography much like the entirety of the Philippines, with hundreds of distinct and isolated islands that make accessibility a challenge for most banks.

Typically, borrowers would have to file a leave from work just to be able to apply for a loan at bank branches located in the urban centers of the province. The trip usually takes them at least two hours one way, with most traveling as much as 57 kilometers just to reach the town proper whenever they need a loan. Now, through Lendr, borrowers in Bicol can easily apply for a salary loan from Camalig Bank using only their mobile phones.

“The digital age has ushered so much convenience for all. Part of our transformation efforts at Camalig Bank is to bring such benefits to our clientele in the Bicol region, and to be able to serve more clients, even those in far-flung municipalities that are traditionally out of our reach,” said Miel Moraleda, President of Camalig Bank.

Camalig Bank is the largest rural bank in Bicol, with presence in most of the provinces in the Bicol region.

 

Toward greater financial inclusion

The partnership between FINTQ and Camalig Bank through Lendr forms part of the support for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) National Strategy for Financial Inclusion, which aims to establish programs and systems that ensure access to financial products and services for the traditionally unbanked and underserved communities in the country.

At the heart of these financial inclusion efforts are mobile and digital systems like Lendr, which enable banks and financial institutions to serve traditionally untapped markets even without establishing brick-and-mortar branches in these areas.

“BSP welcomes this development in starting the journey towards digitizing rural bank lending. This is well aligned with the government’s thrust of promoting responsive and responsible banking. Ultimately, technology will not just level the playing field, but also will bring speed, convenience, cost efficiencies and transparency benefitting customers,” said BSP Deputy Governor and incoming Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr.

“Mobile brings anytime, anywhere access to financial products and services for everyone. In this era of digital, banks must respond to the changing consumer landscape, so that they may be able to service more Filipinos that are still not within the reach of the banking and financial ecosystem. We are glad to be partnering with local banks with the guidance of BSP to realize that vision,” Villanueva explained.

FINTQ’s various digital lending platforms–which include Lendr, LANDBANK Mobile Loan Saver, and micro-lending Pera Agad–have since disbursed over P19 billion in loans to more than 130,000 borrowers, 70% of whom reside outside Metro Manila. This means the benefits of digital are now being felt by more Filipinos around the country, reaching far-flung cities and municipalities–a definite boost for financial inclusion nationwide.

To know more about Lendr, visit www.lendr.com.ph. For more information about Camalig Bank, log on to www.camaligbank.com.ph. [END]

 

A member of one of Albay’s LGUs tries out the Camalig Bank Mobile Salary Loan program powered by Lendr

 

Camalig Bank President Miel Moraleda

 

FINTQ Managing Director Lito Villanueva

 

Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal

LANDBANK, RiteMed, FINTQ launch TxtMED medicine loan service

(From left) RiteMed Philippines, Inc. General Manager Vincent Patrick Guerrero, LANDBANK SVP Liduvino Geron, LANDBANK President and CEO Alex Buenaventura, LANDBANK EVP Julio Climaco Jr., and FINTQ by PLDT Managing Director Lito Villanueva lead the press launch of the Tamang Alaga TxTMED program at the LANDBANK Plaza in Manila.

 

[10 MAY 2017] Affordable and quality medicines are now within easier reach through the Tamang Alaga TxTMED program – “Kapag kailangan ng gamot, dapat may gamot.” – a partnership between LANDBANK, RiteMed, and FINTQ, the financial technology arm of PLDT and Smart’s Voyager Innovations.

TxTMED leverages the LANDBANK Mobile Loan Saver (LMLS) as a digital platform to provide borrowers the option to allocate a portion of their approved net loan proceeds to purchase medicines.

A first in the country, the medicine loan service allows employees from the government and private sector with payroll accounts with LANDBANK, including Overseas Filipinos to electronically order and purchase medicines through their mobile phones without the hassle of outright cash payment. This is available across all telco providers.

RiteMed will offer a whole range of maintenance medicines at special prices through TxTMED, where medicines will also be delivered for free.

“This partnership with RiteMed and FINTQ attests to the endless possibilities in terms of financial technology and the value of public-private sector collaboration, as we work towards optimizing digital transactions to improve access to quality healthcare across the country,” said LANDBANK President and CEO Alex V. Buenaventura.

“RiteMed is committed to providing access to quality and affordable medicines for our fellow Filipinos. TxTMED is a collaboration of leaders in the healthcare, telecommunications, and finance industries that enable us to fulfill this mandate,” says Vincent Patrick Guerrero, general manager of RiteMed.

“Through technology and the strong backend support of a financial institution, our fellow Filipinos can now carry the burden of chronic illnesses who need to take medicines for life. According to a study by the Department of Health in 2016, households spend 50% on out-of-pocket healthcare expenses when a member of the family is sick,” Guerrero adds.

“This is another first in the world in providing access to healthcare through a digital lending channel. A high-impact initiative that promotes universal health care and social support access among Filipinos even at the grassroots, which is a basic human right,” said Lito Villanueva, Managing Director of FINTQ.

“The power of digital lies in its ability to address gaps, and we’re confident that the TxTMED service will help bridge access gaps for everyone’s benefit,” Villanueva stressed.

Pera Agad by Cash Credit – Your Instant Cash Loan, Now in Cebu

[04 MAY 2017] Cash Credit, a fintech and lending company providing financial services to individuals and microentrepreneurs, together with FINTQnologies Inc. (FINTQ), the fintech arm of PLDT and Smart’s Voyager Innovations, launched today its internationally recognized and award-winning loan service, PERA AGAD, to the Cebu market.

Pera Agad offers a unique and pioneering unsecured loan service for amounts of up to ten thousand pesos (PHP 10,000) and targets predominantly the unbanked and underserved population in the Philippines. The loan process is fully digital and provides Smart Prepaid and TNT subscribers access to financial services, including those who have not previously borrowed from a financial institution.

Cash Credit has established a partnership with FINTQ in the Philippines in order to provide an accessible alternative for financially excluded individuals.

The service uses Cash Credit’s proprietary machine learning algorithm to assess the credit-worthiness of participants who opted-in based on their mobile consumption history and behavior. This unique approach has been successfully tested and launched on three continents across the globe in partnership with mobile operators, in Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia.
The local brand of the service is Pera Agad and it is delivered to the market online and via mobile. Approved loans can be cashed out through selected partner outlets of SMART Padala.

After successful soft launches in Metro Manila and South Luzon, Pera Agad is extending its services in Cebu, offering Cebuanos a convenient and transparent cash loan service.

Pera Agad loans will benefit micro- and-small enterprises and individuals who need cash fast. Applying for a loan is done digitally and approved within minutes. To avail of the service, borrowers who are of legal age need to present a valid government ID. They also have to be a SMART prepaid or TNT subscriber for at least 6 months.

Customers may begin applying for a loan via mobile or at www.peraagad.ph, and collect the loan amount in select Smart Padala Centers around Cebu once approved. Repayment of the loan is very convenient with a long list of partners that include 7-Eleven, Cebuana Lhuillier, Bayad Center, among others.

“Today, we are extremely happy to be in Cebu and to expand further the reach of a service which we all believe can change the way Filipinos access loans. Our advanced big data analytics and technology allows us to proudly state that we can create impact and sustainably grow the unbanked and underbanked individuals, turning them into established borrowers with credit history and economically include them. For us, Cash Credit is a cause in which we deeply believe and is a good example of how lives can be changed by marrying vision, technology and science,” says Diana Krumova, President and Group Chief Commercial Officer of Cash Credit.

“We are excited to see Pera Agad launch here in Cebu. Enabling access to micro-loans via digital technologies through our partners such as Cash Credit is at the core of our commitment at FINTQ to growing financial inclusion by enabling our partners with breakthrough technologies that provide easy and convenient lending opportunities to Filipinos,” said Lito Villanueva, managing director at FINTQ.

The service will be fully rolled-out nationwide by the end of the year and more financial services will be offered in cooperation with FINTQ and its partners.

 

About Cash Credit
 
Cash Credit is a Fintech (financial technology) company founded in 2012 currently operating in four countries on three continents (Bulgaria, South Africa, Cameroon and the Philippines). The company partners with various data providers such as telcos, banks and other financial institutions to offer micro credit products to end users and lending scoring technology to financial institutions. Cash Credit provides its partners with two distinct competitive advantages – a unique scoring methodology to acquire new unbanked or underbanked customers or to enhance services to the existing ones and a fully developed ecosystem to disburse and collect the loans.

 

About FINTQ 

FINTQ is the leader in customer-centric, demand-driven, mobile-first, value-creating, and inclusive digital financial innovations through collaboration across strategic markets with award-winning and pioneering platforms, products and services. It is the largest and the only financial technology business with diverse digital banking and finance portfolio of platforms including lending, security, micro-savings, insurance, disbursements, micro-credit and virtual banking, among others. For more information about FINTQ and all of its products and services, please visit www.fintq.com.