POWERING THE GROWTH OF PHILIPPINE MSMES THROUGH INCLUSIVE DIGITAL FINANCE.
FINTQ, the Financial Technology arm of PLDT and Smart’s Voyager Innovations, is throwing its full support behind the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3) program through its digital lending platform Lendr. Through Lendr, the reach of the program’s conduit financial institutions will be expanded nationwide because prospective borrowers and business lenders can easily apply for loans through partner banks online. Present during the presentation of the initiative to DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez (third from left) were Voyager Innovations President and CEO Orlando B. Vea (second from right), FINTQ Managing Director Lito Villanueva (rightmost), Small Business Corp. President Ma. Luna E. Cacanando (leftmost), DTI USEC Zenaida Maglaya (second from left), as well as three early beneficiaries of the P3 program– Edgardo Waniwan, Angelyn Avila, and Judith Waniwan.
FINTQnologies Corp. (FINTQ)–the financial technology arm of Voyager Innovations–has expressed its support for the government’s Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3) program through its forthcoming financial literacy caravans in the program’s first three pilot provinces.
“MSMEs are responsible for 35% of the gross domestic product of the country, providing work to around 60% of the total employed population. We know how they can further propel growth, thus we are one with the government in uplifting Filipino businesses,” said Lito Villanueva, FINTQ Managing Director.
“To show our support, we will conduct KasamaKA for MSMEs financial literacy caravans in Tacloban, Occidental Mindoro, and Sarangani, the first three pilot provinces of the government’s P3 program before it was made available nationwide in April 2017,” he added. KasamaKA is the umbrella financial inclusion program led by FINTQ in cooperation with partners.
“At DTI, we always seek ways to improve the business environment for SMEs and one aspect is providing access to finance that is why we launched the Pondo Para sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso program. And now, having a technology partner like FINTQ that provides a digital lending platform like Lendr that is secure and easily accessible, presents more options to microenterprises with regard to their financial needs,” said DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez.
For his part, Victor Belgar, Project Manager, Radiowealth Finance Co., Inc. said: “Digital platforms like Lendr accelerates our mission to provide finance to microenterprises. It makes reach of financial inclusion so much wider and I must say, that ‘exponential,’ to describe our impact is an understatement.” Radiowealth is one of the accredited conduits of DTI for the P3 program that is also one of FINTQ’s partners in the Lendr platform.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and its microfinancing arm Small Business Corp. allocated Php1 billion for the P3 program that seeks to assist microentrepreneurs financially and enable them to grow their businesses. The agency has partnered with various bank and non-bank institutions to provide MSMEs better access to funds.
Villanueva noted that FINTQ through its digital lending platform Lendr will also offer on-site loan application assistance for MSMEs during these caravans.
“During these financial literacy caravans, we will also assist participating MSMEs to apply for loans on-site through Lendr, our digital lending platform, which is a marketplace where they can choose from our various bank and non-bank partners to apply for credit,” he added. “Since Lendr is digital, MSMEs need not travel to go to branches or offices of lending companies to be able to access loans.”
Through its Voyager DX program, Voyager Innovations will also offer other enabling platforms and services to MSMEs who will participate in these caravans. These include access to digital payments via PayMaya, digital commerce through TackThis! and digital marketing technologies via Hatch. As a whole, Voyager Innovations aims to provide digital and financial inclusion for both consumers and enterprises through its emerging market platforms.
“Among our initiatives include our efforts to empower MSMEs, that is why we are continuously developing digital platforms and services to make Filipino entrepreneurs globally competitive in this day and age of technology,” said Orlando B. Vea, Voyager Innovations President and CEO, adding: “We recently inaugurated DigiHub in our headquarters, which is a learning space for entrepreneurs.”
DigiHub is a physical facility in its Launchpad headquarters in Mandaluyong City that entrepreneurs can use as a space for consultation, mentoring, learning and sharing.
Lendr has the most expansive loan offerings from partner banks and financial institutions in the Philippines. 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.
FINTQnologies Corp. is the leader in customer-centric, demand driven, evidence-based, and mobile-first digital financial innovations by way of engaging regulators, enabling enterprises, and empowering individuals. FINTQ– the financial technology arm of PLDT and Smart’s Voyager Innovations– is committed to accelerating universal digital access to finance at scale via pioneering financial technologies in growth and emerging markets. It is the financial technology arm of Voyager Innovations. To know more, visit http://www.fintq.com.