Provinces adopt financial inclusion program KasamaKA
In photo (L-R) League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) Deputy Secretary-General for Luzon Gov. Imee R. Marcos, LPP National President Gov. Ryan Luis V. Singson, FINTQ Managing Director and KasamaKA Founder and Lead Convenor Lito Villanueva, LPP National Chairman Gov. Al Francis C. Bichara, PLDT Group Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan, Voyager Innovations President and CEO Orlando B. Vea, and LPP Board Member Gov. Albert Raymond S. Garcia.
In photo (L-R) Voyager Innovations President and CEO Orlando B. Vea, PLDT Group Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan, League of Provinces of the Philippines National Chairman Gov. Al Francis C. Bichara, and FINTQ Managing Director and KasamaKA Founder and Lead Convenor Lito Villanueva.
KasamaKA, a pioneering grassroots-based movement aimed at empowering the unbanked population, has been officially adopted as the financial inclusion and social advocacy program across 81 provinces in the country through a resolution signed by the National Executive Board of the League of Provinces in the Philippines (LPP).
Through KasamaKA, FINTQ – the financial arm of PLDT and Smart’s Voyager Innovations – is enabling bank and non-bank financial institutions to offer “sachet” financial services such as microsavings, microinsurance, lending, and micro investment, among others–a first in the Philippines. This initiative will tap millions of sari-sari stores, which can act as correspondent agents of banks. Soon, Filipinos can then access these affordable services and get incentives when they become a KasamaKA member. This initiative will also cover alternative credit scoring for the unbanked and underserved to access affordable financing with corresponding electronic Know-Your Customer (eKYC) capabilities.
Through a National Executive Board Resolution adopted and signed on May 18 by the LPP, composed of the governors of all 81 provinces in the country, pledged to encourage their constituents to become part of KasamaKA by conducting financial literacy and education campaigns. Together with various partners and with the support of the provincial governments, FINTQ is conducting financial inclusion caravans all over the country.
“As governors, our sole obligation is to uplift the lives of our people, particularly the unbanked and underserved. Through our association, we have adopted KasamaKA as an effective and convenient alternative platform that can quickly scale financial inclusion in the Philippines, most especially in the countryside,” said Albay Governor and LPP National Chairman Al Francis C. Bichara.
“KasamaKA is one of our main platforms to make the vision of Voyager to include 30 million Filipinos in the formal financial system by 2020 a reality. This is in strong support of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ National Strategy for Financial Inclusion, and President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s initiative of reducing poverty incidence in the country,” said PLDT and Smart Chairman, President, and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan.
FINTQ Managing Director Lito Villanueva said: “The adoption of KasamaKA by the League of Provinces will further accelerate financial inclusivity in the country. We are grateful to receive their all-out support and to collaborate with proactive local leaders in providing a more affordable and accessible alternative to build an inclusive digital economy.”
A major component of the initiative that will be implemented in cooperation with the League of Provinces is the digital end-to-end agricultural value chain platform called AGRI (Accelerated Growth and Rural Inclusion) that will connect farmers and fisherfolks to consumers for optimized productivity and greater efficiencies. It includes digital financial services, digital commerce through a marketplace and logistics management.
KasamaKa is an income and community builder platform and program that aims to spread greater access to finance to more Filipinos to steer them away from informal lenders by giving them access to reasonable cost of credit, and introducing them to a complete suite of digital financial services.
To date, it has received strong support from various sectors. Recently, KasamaKA has also been adopted by the Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas, making it as the national program to accelerate financial inclusion across over 42,000 barangays nationwide.
To become a KasamaKa builder, interested individuals only have to register via www.kasamaka.com or text KKK to 29292 to receive their unique Builder ID, which they can give out to family, friends, and community members who would like to avail themselves of various digital financial services such as loans, insurance, micro-savings, and micro-investments, among others. For every successful application, the KasamaKA member will earn for himself as much as P300.
Recently, KasamaKA and Lendr–FINTQ’s digital lending platform–were named as the Most Innovative Fintech Collaboration by The Asset Triple A Digital Awards 2017. It also bagged a Gold Anvil at the 53rd Anvil Awards for the Specialized Public Relations Programs: Advocacy Campaign category.
FINTQnologies, Corp. (FINTQ) is the global pioneer in mobile-first financial technology innovations for emerging markets. It is the financial technology arm of PLDT and Smart’s Voyager Innovations. Working in collaboration with partners such as banks, financial institutions and governments, among its key thrusts is to accelerate inclusive digital finance in the era of digital economy. Its platforms and services encompass areas including loans, insurance, micro savings, disbursements, anti-fraud security, and cloud e-banking platforms. For more information, visit www.fintq.com and www. lendr.com.ph.
