Consumer lending company Home Credit is strengthening its programs to promote financial inclusion and serve unbanked and underserved Filipinos, in line with the government’s strategy to expand financial inclusion to more Filipinos.
In July 2022, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) launched the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI) 2022-2028, the country’s first financial inclusion plan which is expected to transform the country into a more inclusive society with a population more autonomous in the next six years.
BSP’s 2020 Financial Inclusion Initiative report found that in 2019, only 29% of adult Filipinos had bank accounts and only 19% had formal credit.
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According to government figures, 31.2% of local government units (LGUs) still have no banking presence, while 4.6% of LGUs are still considered underserved. Despite the availability of digital financial services, BSP data also revealed that while 69% of Filipino adults own cellphones and 53% use the internet, only 12% of cellphone owners and 9% of internet users use their devices and the internet. for financial purposes. transactions.
Fair post-pandemic recovery
Home Credit Philippines believes that the key to accelerating financial inclusion is to make finance more accessible to more people, especially for unbanked and underserved Filipinos.
“Home Credit Philippines remains committed to supporting an equitable post-pandemic recovery in the Philippines through our consumer financial services and solutions,” said David Minol, CEO of Home Credit Philippines. “We believe that our financial inclusion programs and financial education initiatives build on the larger vision of empowering more Filipinos.”
Among its key goals for 2022 are expanding access to responsible finance, promoting financial literacy and empowerment, and fostering innovation and digital inclusion.
Digitization
In 2021, Home Credit Philippines signed an ESG-linked loan with Deutsche Bank to bolster the company’s digitization efforts with 60% of its loans being used by customers through digital channels to enable rates and terms of fairer lending to customers, regardless of their economic or social background. .
In 2022, Home Credit also signed a pioneering loan facility with Citi aimed at providing access to digital financial services for women with 120 million of the 420 million in this loan facility dedicated to women for the purchase of basic digital devices. such as smartphones and tablets. .
Mortgage loan customers
Home Credit has granted more than 18 million loans to its 8 million customers. Over 70% of these loan applications were processed through Home Credit’s digital channels.
By June 2022, Home Credit had served nearly half a million new customers, more than half of whom were women and more than a quarter of them in the younger bracket.
Home Credit also launched its flagship financial literacy radio segment in June in partnership with Praxis and the Manila Broadcasting Company, which airs 2-minute financial advice on all DZRH stations nationwide. It is set to launch its “Wais sa Home” financial literacy microsite this month featuring financial literacy quizzes and other resources, as well as its nationwide “Wais sa Home” tour aimed at expanding its financial literacy for young people across the country.