by Sonia Vasquez | May 10, 2017 | Uncategorized
(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.
by Sonia Vasquez | May 4, 2017 | Uncategorized
[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.
by Sonia Vasquez | Apr 24, 2017 | Uncategorized
Pioneering digital access to finance for farmers. In photo are FINTQ Managing Director Lito Villanueva, Voyager President and CEO Orlando B. Vea, PLDT, Smart, Voyager and FINTQ Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan, Producers Bank Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Andres M. Cornejo, Producers Bank Board Director Gilda E. Pico, and Producers Bank President and Chief Operating Officer Manuel A. Castañeda III.
[24 APRIL 2017] Starting next month, farmers can already apply for loans which could help them finance and increase their farm production, through the country’s first mobile-based digital agricultural crop loan service offered by thrift bank Producers Savings Bank Corporation (Producers Bank) via Lendr, FINTQ’s award-winning and pioneering digital lending platform.
By signing up and availing of the Mobile Crop Loan product via Lendr (www.lendr.com.ph), farmers will have a more convenient source of financing for crops and seed types, including palay (hybrid and inbred seeds), sugar (rattoon and sugar cane seeds), onion and corn, among others.
“This collaboration with Producers Bank shows the true importance of digital technology in leveling the playing field for everyone. Through Lendr, we are planting the seeds of innovation so farmers even in the most remote locations are given equal opportunities to grow their ventures and contribute to the thriving local economy,” said Manuel V. Pangilinan, Chairman of PLDT, Smart and Voyager Innovations. Lendr is a product of FINTQ, the financial technology arm of PLDT and Smart’s Voyager Innovations.
“Consistent with our mission of helping grow the agriculture sector especially in the countryside, our partnership with Lendr will allow us to expand our reach to even more farmers nationwide, particularly through the Mobile Crop Loan product which will be helpful and convenient for farmers looking to finance their farm production,” added Andres Cornejo, Chairman and CEO of Producers Bank.
“The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas welcomes this development in starting the journey towards digitizing lending for the agriculture sector. This is well aligned with the government’s thrust of promoting responsive and responsible banking. Ultimately, technology will bring about inclusive growth and development. It likewise promotes speed, convenience, cost efficiencies and transparency benefiting customers even at the bottom of the pyramid,” said BSP Deputy Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr.
Expanding digital lending reach
Lendr allows its users to look and apply for various loan products using only their mobile devices. Through this digital mobile lending platform, users can choose a loan product, fill up an application form, submit their requirements and get notified regarding the approval of their loan application all within their mobile device.
Lendr has been enabling banks and other financial institutions to offer their loan products online and on mobile devices thereby reaching more potential customers that are beyond the reach of the traditional banking system.
“This is the power of fintech, and we have harnessed such capabilities to help bridge the digital divide by delivering breakthrough products and awesome customer experiences to more Filipinos through our various digital banking, lending, insurance, and security platforms at FINTQ. By enabling banks with their digital transformation, we enable more people to take part and benefit from the growing digital economy,” said Lito Villanueva, Managing Director at FINTQ.
FINTQ’s various telco-agnostic digital lending platforms–which include Lendr, Mobile Loan Saver (with LANDBANK), and micro-lending Pera Agad (with Cash Credit)–have helped disburse more than P18 billion worth of loans since 2015 to over 120,000 borrowers, 70% of which are from outside Metro Manila.
Through its platforms, FINTQ currently has the most extensive digital lending footprint in the country today, with loan transactions coming from all 81 provinces, 90 percent of the 145 cities and eight percent of the 1,490 municipalities. Lendr, FINTQ’s pioneer product, has more than 30 banks and non-banks in various stages of onboarding. [END]
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.
About Producers Bank
Producers Bank is a rapidly expanding thrift bank with 144 branches nationwide, the vast majority of which are located in the countryside. Its mission is to become the #1 partner bank of entrepreneurs as well as farmers in producing more wealth for the country. It has supported farmers since its inception more than 21 years ago and plans to increase its reach by expanding to 300 branches by 2020.
by Sonia Vasquez | Mar 23, 2017 | Uncategorized
[23 MARCH 2017] FINTQ, the financial technology arm of PLDT and Smart’s Voyager Innovations, emerged as the leading financial technology (FinTech) provider with its various digital lending platforms benefiting not only its partner banks and non-banks but thousands of Filipinos nationwide as well.
“We are glad that FINTQ’s various platforms have already taken root and are helping in our financial inclusion drive at Voyager. These platforms will pave the way toward empowering more Filipinos, especially those in the countryside, with the help of digital technology,” said Orlando B. Vea, President and CEO at Voyager Innovations.
“Aside from delivering an awesome customer experience, FINTQ’s strategic play focuses on enabling digital transformation of its partners in the banking, financial services and insurance sector. As the first player in the industry with existing strategic collaboration with top banks and non banks in the country, we have seen quick adoption by the customers further empowering them with easy, convenient and accessible access to finance. We have bridged the digital divide in retail lending via branchless banking,” added Lito Villanueva, Managing Director at FINTQ.
FINTQ’s various telco-agnostic digital lending platforms–which include Lendr, Mobile Loan Saver (with LANDBANK), and micro-lending Pera Agad (with Cash Credit) – helped disburse over P17 billion in total loans since 2015 to more than 110,000 borrowers, 70% of which reside outside Metro Manila.
With its platforms, FINTQ has the most extensive digital lending footprint in the country today, with loan transactions coming from all 81 provinces, 90 percent of the 145 cities and eight percent of the 1,490 municipalities.
These platforms have extended the reach of partner financial institutions, leveraging on mobile devices as the pervasive customer touchpoint. Almost 50 percent of borrowers lodged their loan applications outside office hours.
To date, FINTQ has signed up some of the country’s biggest banks for its various platforms, including the likes of Land Bank of the Philippines, China Bank Savings, Union Bank of the Philippines, Maybank Philippines, PNB Savings Bank, RCBC Savings Bank, Camalig Bank, First Circle, Cebuana Lhuillier Rural Bank, Philippine Business Bank, and Producers Bank, among others.
“We thank Camalig Bank for bringing Lendr to us. We don’t need to travel 57 kilometers every time we apply for a loan. This is user friendly and can be accessed anytime, anywhere. Now, even us living in remote areas in the country could enjoy this program,” said Noel Buendia, senior administrative assistant of Viga Rural Development High School situated in the fourth-class municipality of Viga in Catanduanes.
Globally recognized
Capping off these milestones, FINTQ recently bagged the “Fintech of the Year” award for 2016 by The Asset Triple A Digital Awards in Hong Kong, where it bested other financial technology providers in developed markets such as China, Japan, and Singapore.
Lendr and Pera Agad, on the other hand was also recognized by The Asset for being the “Most Innovative Cloud Project” and the “Most Innovative Data Analytics Project” distinctions, respectively.
Meanwhile, Mobile Loan Saver in partnership with the Land Bank of the Philippines, was also recently recognized with an Excellence in Fintech Lending award at the Lafferty Global Awards in South Africa.
“We are truly honored to be given these recognitions as one of the best in fintech both in the Philippines and the region. We are committed to develop more innovations that help enable financial institutions and empower more Filipinos through relevant services that are easily within their reach,” Villanueva said.
To date, FINTQ’s various platforms have received over 30 global and local awards in less than three years since inception.
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.
by Sonia Vasquez | Mar 21, 2017 | Uncategorized
[20 MARCH 2017] Amidst all the advancements in financial innovations, trust must still be at the center of any digital transformation efforts of banks and financial institutions, according to Lito Villanueva (leftmost), Managing Director of FINTQ, the financial technology arm of PLDT’s Voyager Innovations, during the recent Asian Financial Services Congress organized by IDC Financial Insights at the Marina Bay Sands Singapore.
“Against the wave of digital tsunami, every organization, financial or non-financial institution, needs to quickly pivot by shifting to lifestyle-driven initiatives from the proverbial transaction-based services,” Villanueva said.
Trust will be the basis for how stakeholders engage with regulators, partners, vendors, and especially to customers. Trust will be increasingly evident in how players in the industry build business through “co-opetition” and shared economies, how they support APIs and open-banking concepts, and how they fast-track integration of external innovators.
Villanueva defined TRUST as an acronym that represents Transparency, Relationship, Universality, Security and Transformational.
The two-day forum which drew over a thousand executives from the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) industry in over 10 countries focused on how the financial industry has gone through tremendous digital transformation in recent years. These changes include the surge of cognitive and artificial intelligence (AI), announcements of new digital-mobile payment initiatives and the growing acceptance of financial technology or FinTech, among others.
Among the panelists include Annie Ong, Regional Sales Director of Salesforce (rightmost), and Martin Read, Lead Partner in SE Asia of Deloitte Digital (middle). It was moderated by Michael Araneta, Associate Vice President, IDC Financial Insights.
