Growth of fintech gives Filipinos better access to mobile banking, loans, remittance, and credit

Mynt, the financial technology (fintech) subsidiary of Globe Telecom, said ordinary Filipinos can now avail of affordable financial products and services like mobile banking, remittance, insurance, loans, and credit as the use of technology and innovation continues to be more pervasive in the Philippines.

“There is really a dire need for financial inclusion in the country since many Filipinos still do not have bank accounts as well as access to formal lending and credit. But due to fintech innovations, even those in remote areas can already take advantage of a wide range of financial services available in the market today,” said Albert Tinio, President of GCash, the micro-payment service company of Mynt.

According to Tinio, about 70% of Filipinos do not have bank accounts or any formal means to save money while 90% of Filipinos do not have a credit score, making it difficult for them to secure a loan. It also forces some individuals to turn to informal lenders which charge interest rates of as high as 20%. Moreover, 40% of cities and municipalities do not have physical banks, thus, residents have to spend a lot of time, effort, and money to get to the nearest bank.

Speaking before some 1,500 local government officials who attended the recent 5th Regional Competitiveness Summit, Tinio said that being a subsidiary of Globe allowed Mynt to help address the concern by building a financially inclusive ecosystem. Since telecommunication companies are in a unique position to penetrate even far-flung areas through mobile services, Mynt was able to leverage on the capability and infrastructure of Globe to offer fintech to anyone, anytime and anywhere.

“GCash, for instance, already experienced hyper growth for the past 1.5 years through the use of technology and innovation. With GCash, customers can buy load, send and receive remittances, purchase goods and services, pay government fees or taxes online, among others. These have been part of our financial inclusion advocacy and eventually, we want to become a global payment solutions brand,” Tinio said.

Mynt is also aggressively working with LGUs to create intelligent cities, municipalities, and provinces.

Just recently, Globe partnered with Makati City for the “Makatizen Card” as well as with Davao del Norte for a similar citizen ID system. Both projects provided the opportunity for the creation of a cashless ecosystem for payment needs and eliminates the old practice of face-to-face transactions, and even old policies in disbursing allowances, wages, stipends, and others. The citizen ID card functions as a valid government-issued ID card and can be used to avail various social services, transact with government and purchase goods and services.

Fuse, another subsidiary of Mynt, meanwhile, can be used by individuals and micro/small businesses to secure a loan. “Our loans platform through Fuse, creates credit scores for Filipinos using telco data, where the profile of a loan applicant can be determined to know if the person has the ability to pay for a loan,” Tinio said while recalling that the first loan applicant was a fruit vendor in Cagayan de Oro City a year ago. Her loan application was approved in as fast as 24 hours.

Another layer in the Mynt financial platform hierarchy is the ability to give out insurance plans, with the support of expert insurance partners. “We want to create a marketplace for insurance that’s customized for Filipinos and paid through reasonable and fair premiums.” Finally, Tinio said Filipinos with some savings can invest it through Mynt using a platform that gives them the ability to do that in the easiest, most convenient and safest manner.

In order to cater to the financially underserved, Mynt together with Globe Telecom, has partnered with Ayala Corporation and Ant Financial, the global leader in mobile payment services, to build platforms built for scale. “Ant already has more than 450 million users while ours is only at 4.7 million. Our dream is to become as big as that,” he said.