FINTQ kicks off 2018 with Disruptors’ Ball

From left to right: Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Ariel Cayanan; PLDT and Smart Wireless Consumer Head and SVP Oscar Reyes, Jr.; PLDT and Smart Enterprise Head and SVP Jovy Hernandez; PLDT/Smart Chief Revenue Officer Eric Alberto; Chamber of Thrift Banks President Greg Anonas; Rural Bankers Association President Gino Gabriento; GoNegosyo Agripreneurship Adviser Ginggay Hontiveros-Malvar; CoopHub Chairperson Karina Zobel; Voyager Innovations President and CEO Orlando B. Vea; PLDT Group Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan; BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier; Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea; FINTQ Managing Director Lito Villanueva; Securities and Exchange Commission Chairperson Teresita Herbosa; Trade and Industry Sec. Ramon Lopez; FinScore Country President Diana Krumova; Transunion Country President Pia Arellano; Credit Information Corporation President Jaime Garchitorena; Insurance Commissioner Dennis Funa; BSP Credit Surety Fund (CSF) Special Program Chairman Oscar Tayko; Liga ng mga Barangay National President Edmund Abesamis

FINTQ KICKS OFF 2018 WITH DISRUPTORS’ BALL

A gathering of leaders from all sectors advocating for financial and digital inclusion in the country

FINTQ, the financial technology arm of PLDT and Smart’s Voyager Innovations, started the year by gathering all its partners at its first FINTQ Disruptors’ Ball held at the Conrad Manila where industry leaders reinforced their commitment to accelerate digital and financial inclusion in the country.

“What we are disrupting here is the state of the unbanked and underserved Filipinos,” said Orlando Vea, president and CEO of Voyager Innovations, as he opened the event. He noted that this year, FINTQ will launch a slew of platforms that will allow consumers to gain access to retail financial services, bringing the country a step further to financial inclusion.
Voyager aims to include 30 million Filipinos in the formal financial system by 2020 through its digital platforms, which is in line with the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion.

FINTQ Managing Director Lito Villanueva, in his speech during the event, said: “To be a disruptor means breaking barriers and eradicating inefficiencies to provide seamless and awesome digital customer experience.”

For this year, he said, the KasamaKA Movement will go deeper into the grassroots as FINTQ rolls out various platforms in the market such as the KasamaKA Microsavings, KasamaKA Microinsurance, KasamaKA Microinvestment and the expanded Lendr digital lending platform.

“Simply put, KasamaKA is a social and cultural revolution, a journey towards empowering Filipinos. There is no better way to explain or translate the term financial inclusion to its supposed audience than the powerful words KasamaKA—that everyone belongs, that no one is left behind,” Villanueva said, adding: “The way to include the millions of unbanked is to sachet financial products. Effectively servicing them is by way of enabling our bank partners to reach the 69% of the population that remain untapped through sari-sari stores.”

In response, luminaries from the government, non-government organizations and executives from the banking, financial services, and insurance sectors expressed their strong support for FINTQ and Voyager’s goal of financial and digital inclusion in the country.

Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, in his speech, delivered by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said: “I welcome the KasamaKA movement as an effective way to realize our agenda for inclusive growth.”

“Let me underscore that the government is committed to reduce poverty through financial inclusion,” Medialdea added.

Meanwhile, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier, in a speech she delivered on behalf of BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla, Jr said: “For technology to give positive disruption, it must not only be additive but instead be transformative—enriching new markets and effectively addressing needs particularly of those who have long been unserved or underserved. The BSP believes that we have an important role to play in creating an enabling environment in the development of inclusive financial technology in the country. We are taking this role very seriously and we believe that the the future of the financial system lies in the digital.”

Among those who delivered their commitments in accelerating inclusive growth through KasamaKA digital finance advocacy included Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairperson Teresita Herbosa, Insurance Commissioner Dennis Funa, Credit Information Corporation President and CEO Jaime Garchitorena, Agriculture Undersecretary Ariel Cayanan, Rural Bankers Association President Gino Gabriento, Chamber of Thrift Banks President Greg Anonas, GoNegosyo Agripreneurship Adviser Ginggay Hontiveros, CoopHub Chairperson Karina Zobel, BSP Credit Surety Fund Special Program Chairman Oscar Tayko, TransUnion President Pia Arellano, and FinScore President Diana Krumova.

The Liga ng mga Barangay, through its National President Atty. Edmund Abesamis, also presented a Resolution unanimously approved by its National Executive Board adopting KasamaKA as a national grassroots-based advocacy and social movement for financial inclusion. This initiative will now be cascaded across over 42,000 barangays nationwide as a capacity-building initiative to provide financial education and promote greater access to affordable digital financial services, veering Filipinos away from informal and predatory lenders.

 “I welcome the KasamaKA movement as an effective way to realize our agenda for inclusive growth.” 

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte

Copyright © 2016 FINTQ. All rights reserved.

FINTQ introduces “Sacheted” Banking Products to Reach Unbanked Filipinos

FINTQ introduces “Sacheted” Banking Products to Reach Unbanked Filipinos

Bringing financial services through digital technology and sari-sari stores

Formal financial institutions can penetrate the unbanked and underserved market when financial products are offered in pocket-sized amounts and are easily accessible for consumers, a report from FINTQ, the financial technology arm of leading technology company Voyager Innovations, revealed.

The Inclusive Digital Finance Report (IDF) Vol. 2 titled Retail Financial Services in a Sachet Economy affirmed how sachet banking is fit for the Philippine market with most of the unbanked families owning a mobile phone and residing in communities where micro, small, and medium enterprises (mSMEs) such as sari-sari stores are prevalent.

This can be done through a radical innovation that can accelerate the state of financial inclusion in the Philippines as FINTQ enables banks to introduce “sacheted” banking products to communities, down to the neighborhood level through its various KasamaKA digital platforms ranging from microsavings, microinsurance, microinvestment, and digital lending via Lendr.

This agent banking model allows banks to tap mSMEs such as sari-sari stores to act as cash agents to reach unserved and underbanked Filipinos, through FINTQ’s platforms and network.

“We have a bold goal of including 30 million Filipinos in the formal financial system by 2020. This may be a long shot for an economy that is still cash-heavy, but we know from the very start that unbanked families could be served better when banks tap the most ubiquitous device  – the mobile phone – and the most pervasive touchpoint in the country – sari-sari stores,” said Orlando B. Vea, President of FINTQ and President and CEO of Voyager Innovations, the digital innovations arm of PLDT and Smart.

 

Sachet banking: The last mile solution

The second IDF Report, which is based on the 2015 Family Income Expenditure Survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority, also revealed that about 70% of Filipino families have no savings account, effectively tagging them “unbanked” under the survey’s definition. However, this segment earns ample income and owns assets that can help banks and non-banks to design financial products that are affordable for the majority of the unbanked segment.

Against this backdrop, FINTQ reignited the sachet banking model to allow partner banks and non-bank institutions to promote financial inclusivity and accommodate the less affluent segments.

For this year, under the sachet banking model, banks and non-banks can now offer financial products and services at a lower price and through FINTQ’s KasamaKA platforms: KasamaKA Microsavings, KasamaKA Microinsurance, KasamaKA Microinvestment, and KasamaKA Lending (Lendr).

“Sachet banking is the last mile solution, and FINTQ is putting this innovation to scale. In the months to come, our products will allow consumers to deposit in their bank accounts small amounts, not directly at a bank branch, but through sari-sari stores and other mSMEs. We are doing this to enable our partners in the banking and finance industry so we can all accelerate the state of financial inclusion in the country,” said Lito Villanueva, managing director of FINTQ.  

By transforming sari-sari stores into cash agents, banks could sustainably operate in low-density communities. By turning mobile phones into a “digital bank,” unbanked and underserved Filipinos could now open a savings account, apply for a loan, find affordable insurance, and make an investment without having to visit a bank branch.

Meanwhile, consumers can access the KasamaKA platforms through a mobile device any time of the day and wherever they are. Should they need to do banking transactions, they can now transact within their neighborhood through sari-sari stores tapped by their bank to serve as its cash agents.

“Accessing bank products and services will be as easy as loading up your prepaid mobile number or buying a shampoo sachet. Thanks to the BSP for the recent release of the enabling regulation to promote basic deposit account,” Villanueva said.

“Banking products and services have long been considered necessities that only the few well-to-do can afford. Today, FINTQ’s KasamaKa carries to the farthest reaches of our archipelago, savings, loans, insurance, and investment products — and with those instruments the capacity for every Filipino to aspire beyond their present circumstances,” he added.

About FINTQ

FINTQ is the leader and award-winning financial technology provider of customer-centric, demand-driven, mobile-first, value-creating, and inclusive digital financial innovations. It is the largest and the only FinTech business in the country with diverse digital banking and finance portfolio of platforms including lending, security, micro-savings, micro-investments, 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.

FINTQ records a double-digit loan growth through Lendr in 2017

Majority of those who borrow through Lendr are single, female, employed, and are the so-called millennials or those born from 1982 to 2004. They belong to the ‘Starting Out’ segment–or the young adults who are just beginning with their careers.

 

[04 JANUARY 2018] FINTQ–the financial technology arm of PLDT and Smart’s Voyager Innovations–saw loan disbursements processed through Lendr, its digital lending platform, balloon by nearly a third in 2017 from a year ago with most of the borrowers coming from the ‘starting out’ segment, an executive said.

“Loans disbursed through Lendr for 2017 reached more than P12 billion, nearly a third higher than the volume recorded the year before, bringing our total loans disbursed to about P27 billion since we went to market in 2015,” said Lito Villanueva, FINTQ Managing Director.

The tremendous year-on-year performance, Villanueva said, was mainly propelled by business synergies with both banks and non-bank associations sealed throughout the year and the regulatory support given to FINTQ. He also noted that applications through Lendr registered the highest loan approval rate at around 40% last year due to “digital efficiencies.”

“Lendr’s feature of filtering of loan applicants based on the bank and non-bank partners’ credit parameters enabled them to quickly generate quality leads and approve eligible borrowers,” he said.

As of end-2017, FINTQ has inked agreements with a total of 70 institutions. These include: the Landbank of the Philippines; China Bank Savings; RCBC Savings Bank; Philippine Bank of Communications; Producers Savings Bank Corp.; Camalig Bank, Inc. (A Rural Bank); PNB Savings Bank; Maybank Philippines; EastWest Bank; CARD Bank, Inc.; CARD SME Bank, Inc.; Rizal Bank, Inc.; First Circle; Esquire Financing, Inc.; ALGO Leasing and Finance; Cebuana Lhuillier; Atram Trust Corp.’s Seedbox Technologies; Radiowealth Finance Company; Chamber of Thrift Banks; and the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines. FINTQ will also be working with CoopHub to offer Lendr services to over 26,000 cooperatives nationwide.

“Majority of those who borrow through Lendr are single, female, employed, and are the so-called millennials or those born from 1982 to 2004. Such borrowers are what we call the ‘Starting Out’ segment–or the young adults who are just beginning with their careers. At this stage of their lives, they only have need for relatively simple financial products such as a transaction account and/or a credit card. From time to time, they utilize basic banking products to fund their R&R activities (e.g. travel, new gadgets, or hobby) or invest in the financial market,” Villanueva said.

“Borrowers who use Lendr are those with profiles that are targeted by banks. This only goes to show that our platform is really beneficial for our bank and non-bank partners as we work together in providing the financial needs of consumers,” Villanueva said.

However, he also pointed out that “8 out of 10 of our borrowers are from the provinces and about 26% are residing in low-income cities and municipalities. This only shows that there is really a huge untapped market by formal financial institutions in rural communities and with our digital financial platforms such as Lendr, wherein we also offer micro-loans via Pera Agad, we are able to service their financial needs,” said Villanueva.

FINTQ and Voyager Innovations are strongly committed to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to promote the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion. It targets to include 30 million Filipinos in the formal financial sector by 2020 through KasamaKA–its grassroots-based financial inclusion program–and Lendr, which also offers Pera Agad–a micro-loan service for the unbanked and underbanked without or has limited access to finance. Through Pera Agad, qualified Smart and Talk and Text prepaid subscribers can apply for loans ranging from P2,000 to P10,000 with a term of 4 to 36 weeks.

In terms of types of loan applications received, Villanueva shared that majority are for salary loans. There were also a number of applications for microfinance and business loans. He noted that nearly 50% of the transactions are done after banking hours, which signifies that “digital platforms that provide banking products and services have absolutely eased doing banking transactions for consumers.”

“Through Lendr, our digital lending platform, prospective borrowers can apply for a loan and can closely monitor their loan accounts anytime of the day and wherever they are,” Villanueva said.

Lendr has the most expansive loan offerings. On top of the traditional salary, personal, home, and auto loan products, it offers mobile crop loan, medicine loan, mSME loan, overseas Filipino loan, and truck and equipment loan, among others.

With all its efforts, Lendr is the first non-bank product to win the Consumer Finance Product of the Year at the recent Asian Banker Philippine Country Awards. It was cited for being a trailblazer in digital lending service in the country with the most extensive reach in the countryside. It showcased how it has become a pervasive and useful platform for financial inclusion and inclusive growth.

A rosy outlook for Lendr

“For 2018, we are confident that with the deployment of a number of our Lendr partners, we will keep our double-digit growth and could even double last year’s performance,” Villanueva said.

Overall, he said: “While we are accelerating our digital lending initiative through Lendr, several game-changing platforms will also be launched. Other key digital platforms for various financial services will be introduced in the market come 2018. These will further galvanize our position in the industry as the leading fintech company with the largest digital footprint in the country. We will also be expanding our operations outside the Philippines.”

“2018 will be a banner year for FINTQ as we are going beyond lending,” Villanueva said.