In Photo (from left to right): Neeti Aggarwal, The Asian Banker Senior Manager, Research; Guillaume Danielou, FINTQ; Richard Hartung, The AsianBanker International Advisor; Lito Villanueva, FINTQ Managing Director; Agustin Santiago, FINTQ; Foo Boo Ping, The Asian Banker Managing Editor.

Pioneering and award-winning digital lending platform Lendr recently bagged yet another international recognition as it was recently named the “Best Consumer Finance Product” at the Asian BankerPhilippine Country Awards 2017 held recently in Makati City.

Lendr (www.lendr.com.ph), developed by Voyager Innovations’ financial technology arm FINTQ, allows prospective borrowers to search for thebest loan, file their applications and submit requirements online or via mobile phones, eliminating the need to go to a physical bank branch or to fill out long and complicated application forms.

“Lendr has been making inroads as the leading digital lending platform in the country today, and this accolade from The Asian Banker further illustrates how it has become a pervasive and useful platform for financial inclusion,” said Lito Villanueva, Managing Director at FINTQ. “Withthe right mix of a digitally-enabled platform, a set of partners that is willing to take the risk in digital, and a sustainable business model that has proven to be a win-win for all, we have created a breakthrough solution that benefits everyone with Lendr.”

This is the second time that The Asian Banker has recognized Voyager for its role in developing breakthrough digital innovations, with Voyager President and CEO Orlando B. Vea receiving the Asian Banker Innovation Leadership Achievement Award for the Philippines early this year.

Sustainable performance

Lendr was recognized for promoting financial inclusion among Filipinos nationwide, including those in far-flung provinces out of reach by thetraditional banking system. At the same time, it helps enable banks and other financial institutions by providing a common platform where they can engage with new markets via digital and mobile technology.

The Asian Banker awarded Lendr for exhibiting “a sustainable business performance in 2016,” since it has so far helped disbursed more than P24 billion in loans to users in 100% of Philippine provinces, 91% of cities, and 26% of municipalities nationwide.

It is the first non-bank product to receive such a distinction from the prestigious institution.  

To date, Lendr has partnered with more than 50 bank and non-bank institutions in various stages of onboarding, offering loan products such as personal loan, salary loan, OFW loan, car loan, housing loan, trucks & equipment loan, motorcycle loan, DepEd loan, and farmer/fisher loan, among many others.

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 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.

In its three years of existence, FINTQ has garnered more than 30 local and international awards for its various platforms.

For more information about FINTQ and all of its products and services, please visit www.fintq.com.

In Photo: FINTQ Managing Director and KasamaKA Founder and Lead Convenor Lito Villanueva receives the Most Innovative Fintech Collaboration Award for Kasama/ Lender Partnership from The Asset.

Two homegrown initiatives of FINTQnologies Corp.’s (FINTQ) were recognized at the recent Asset Triple A Digital Awards 2017, a preeminent annual awards excellence program that distinguishes the best in class for the digital and finance industries across the Asian region.

KasamaKA– a community and income builder program– and Lendr–its digital lending platform– were named as the Most Innovative Fintech Collaboration by The Asset Triple A Digital Awards 2017. 

The Asset particularly recognized how the two initiatives have worked hand-in-hand to pursue financial inclusion and cater to the underserved and unbanked communities in the Philippines. FINTQ, the financial technology arm of PLDT and Smart’s Voyager Innovations, is the sole entity awarded by the coveted award-giving body from the Philippines.

Receiving the award is FINTQ Managing Director and KasamaKA Founder and Lead Convenor Lito Villanueva.

“With the recognition of the digital platforms and programs we have created to attain Voyager and FINTQ’s big goal of including 30 million Filipinos by 2020 in the formal financial system, we are all the more inspired to develop more digital financial platforms to achieve our goal,” said Villanueva.

The Asset Triple A Digital Awards for 2017 recognizes financial institutions and technology firms that have excelled in innovating and developing a unique digital experience for customers across the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions. Its process for the selection of winners is backed by a stringent methodology and rigorous approach.

The Asset Triple A Awards has been built upon a stringent methodology, combined with the rigorous approach to the selection of the winners of the coveted Triple A Awards.

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 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 under the PLDT Group. To know more, visit www.fintq.com

In Photo (from Left): Lito Villanueva, FINTQ Managing Director; Orlando B. Vea, Voyager Innovations and FINTQ President and CEO; Manuel V. Pangilinan, PLDT, Voyager Innovations, FINTQ Chairman; Samir Gupta, CIMB CEO, Group Consumer Banking; Gurdip Singh, CIMB Group Chief Strategy Officer; Vijay Manoharan, CIMB Senior Managing Director for Digital Banking and Decision Management, Group Consumer Banking.

In Photo (from Left): Lito Villanueva, FINTQ Managing Director; Orlando B. Vea, Voyager Innovations and FINTQ President and CEO; Manuel V. Pangilinan, PLDT, Voyager Innovations, FINTQ Chairman; Samir Gupta, CIMB CEO, Group Consumer Banking; Gurdip Singh, CIMB Group Chief Strategy Officer; Vijay Manoharan, CIMB Senior Managing Director for Digital Banking and Decision Management, Group Consumer Banking.

CIMB taps FINTQ’s Lendr to achieve scale as it enters the Philippine market

Kuala Lumpur-based CIMB has started to beef up its operations in the Philippines by tapping FINTQ—the financial technology arm of PLDT and Smart’s Voyager Innovations—for its lending business.

CIMB, Malaysia’s second largest lender, is the first foreign bank in the ASEAN region to tap Lendr for its digital-only strategy in the Philippines. Through the agreement, CIMB will gain access to prospective Filipinos seeking for loan products that best suit their needs.

This move by the Malaysian lender is in line with its strategy to establish itself as a ‘digital-only bank’ in the country. A digital retail banking strategy trims banks’ cost-to-income ratio—a measure of efficiency and productivity for banks. A lower ratio indicates a higher efficiency and profitability for a company.

Tengku Dato’ Sri Zafrul Aziz, CIMB Group CEO said, “We are pleased that our relationship with PLDT has evolved into a strong, strategic partnership with its related companies. We are confident that by leveraging on these partners’ local strengths as well as CIMB’s extensive digital experience, we will be able to provide our customers in the Philippines with a seamless digital banking experience. CIMB is excited with the prospects that the Philippines market offers and we are also confident that our differentiated strategy based on digital and partnerships will bring a strong value proposition into the market.”

“We are excited to collaborate with CIMB on this fast growing FinTech space. This is in line with our mission to collaborate with partners and develop mutually beneficial propositions. This is just the start of a long-term fruitful partnership with one of ASEAN’s largest banks,” said Manuel V. Pangilinan Chairman of PLDT, Smart, Voyager Innovations and FINTQ.

“This collaboration with FINTQ paves the way for CIMB to further expand its reach and grow its scale as it begins to operate in the Philippine market. This also empowers our consumers as they gain access to more loan products through our Lendr platform, where they can easily secure access to funding anytime, anywhere through their mobile phones,” said Orlando B. Vea, Voyager Innovations and FINTQ President and CEO.

Through Lendr, consumers can apply for their desired loan products by visiting Lendr’s website: www.lendr.com.ph or through the Lendr app (for Android phone users initially). They simply need to create their Lendr account and profile, provide all necessary information and submit their application with their desired lending partner of Lendr at their most convenient time, without having to visit a bank branch.

“As the Philippines’ leading digital lending service with the most extensive digital footprint covering all provinces in the country, Lendr aims to always provide our partners and consumers a 24/7 accessible mobile platform solution that caters to their respective needs. As our first foreign bank partner in the ASEAN region for Lendr, this collaboration with CIMB allows us to grow our ecosystem of partner financial institutions while at the same time providing more options for our consumers,” said Lito Villanueva, FINTQ Managing Director.

FINTQ’s partners for Lendr, its pioneering and award-winning digital lending platform include: China Bank Savings, PNB Savings Bank, RCBC Savings Bank, Cebuana Lhuillier Bank, Camalig Bank, Inc. (A Rural Bank), Philippine Business Bank, Producers Savings Bank Corp.,First Circle, PawnHero, Esquire Financing, Inc., ALGO Leasing and Finance, Inc., EastWest Bank, Land Bank of the Philippines, Maybank Philippines, Inc., Insular Bank (A Rural Bank), Development Bank of the Philippines, JK Capital Finance, Philippine Bank of Communications, Asialink Finance Corp., Bank of Commerce, and MCC MoneyShops Finance Co. Inc. FINTQ will also be working with CoopHub to make digital lending more accessible to over 26,000 cooperatives nationwide.

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. It now has disbursed in excess of US$580 million in loans since it was launched in 2015.

Every consumer has the right to access financial services. With Lendr, we aim to be the leading organization in promoting digital financial inclusion in the Philippines and other emerging markets. Lendr is our flagship platform that allows bank partners to reach more customers, while it provides consumers easy, fast and secure access to funding anytime, anywhere, with the use of their mobile devices, Villanueva said.

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 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 under the PLDT Group. To know more, visit http://www.fintq.com

KasamaKA gives out 1 million microinsurance policies to barangay constituents during the 2018 Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas National Assembly.

FINTQ Managing Director and KasamaKA Founder and Lead Convenor Lito Villanueva with North Cotabato Barangay Chairmen during the 2018 Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas National Assembly.

Accelerating financial inclusion at the grassroots through microinsurance

True to its mission of supporting the government’s thrust of promoting inclusive growth in the country, FINTQ, through its grassroots-based financial inclusion program KasamaKA, is providing 1 million free microinsurance policies to unbanked and underserved Filipinos across the 42,000 barangays nationwide. 

“We all need security and protection from any uncertainties. With this affordable and accessible microinsurance policies under the KasamaKA Microinsurance Program, this will kickstart the massive nationwide financial literacy campaign to educate millions of unbanked and underserved Filipinos on the importance of being financially secured and insured,” said Lito Villanueva, FINTQ Managing Director, and Founder and Lead Convenor of KasamaKA. 

For his part, Insurance Commissioner Dennis B. Funa said: “We welcome KasamaKA as a national digital enabler towards achieving our goals to exponentially grow the country’s insurance penetration rate to 4% by year 2020 from 1.7% in 2017. This is the first of its kind initiative in the country.” 

Insurance penetration rate is the ratio of premiums over GDP. The national insurance penetration grew to 1.64% last year from 1.61% in 2016.

The distribution of the 1 million free microinsurance policies is an initiative under the KasamaKA Ka-Barangay sa Kaunlaran, a capacity-building initiative in collaboration with Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas. It was announced during the Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas National Assembly last February 27 at the Manila Hotel. A month ago, its National Executive Board, through a national resolution, unanimously adopted KasamaKA as a social advocacy and a national movement for financial inclusion across 42,036 barangays in the country. 

Villanueva who is also the chairman of the FinTechAlliance.ph noted that with a microinsurance policy, Filipinos will have an additional source of financial assistance to help them cope and recover faster in times of natural disasters or unfortunate events in their lives.

Atty. Edmund R. Abesamis, Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas National President concurred, saying: “KasamaKA levels the playing field as it empowers even our marginalized constituents to avail and enjoy the benefits of digital financial services. They no longer need to request and wait for the release of financial assistance from various government offices. With their insurance coverage, they now have peace of mind as their beneficiaries are entitled to avail immediate release of their accident-related claims to cover for their needed expenses, all through the use of their mobile phone.”  

The distribution of free microinsurance policies will run from February 27 to March 13 only. Insurance coverage period will be for three months. Beneficiaries of policyholders are entitled to the following claims: Accidental death and disablement, PHP20,000; Total and permanent disability due to accident, PHP2,500; Burial assistance due to accident, PHP5,000; Daily accident hospital benefit,PHP200 per day for a maximum of 10 days hospitalization due to accident; and Fire cash assistance, PHP5,000.