Home Credit Philippines (HCPH), a Prague-based consumer finance firm, plans to double its loan payments in the country to P11 billion this year from its growing number of Filipino clientele.
HCPH aims to surpass its P5.4-billion receivables in May from loan applications of 1 million Filipino clients for smartphones, whose demand grew by 27 percent.
In 2016 HCPH, which uses in-store loan application and agency and online payments, grew its client base from 280,000 to 600,000.
In April it extended its partnership to stores in La Union, Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur.
Along with the expanded market and gadget sales, HCPH will capitalize on the Philippine economic growth that rose by 6.4 percent in the first quarter and strong work force that consists mainly of new graduates, call-center agents who are starting families in their 20s.
“What is attractive about this market to a retail fintech [financial technology] company like us is that the economy is growing and expected to rise further to 7 percent, according to government authorities,” HCPH CFO Zdenek Jankovsky said.
“Also, 75 percent of the country’s income come from household consumption and the demographic also remains largely young at 23 years old,” Jankovsky added.
As a fintech company, HCPH also plans to develop online retail payment and credit-data gathering technologies with financial institutions and commercial businesses for installment financing at 0-percent interest rate over its 2,500 partner-stores nationwide.
HCPH receives 120,000 loan applications a month through retailers where customers can simply fill out the loan-application form and present two identification cards.
“If you want to process 120,000 applications a month through traditional methods, you have to file piles of documents and wait. We are here to provide financial technologies and financial services that might not be served by other formal lenders,” Jankovsky said.
At present, HCPH has partnerships with foreign banks, such as Citi, ING and HSBC, and payment centers, such as 7-Eleven, pawnshops, Bayad Center and SM Bills Payment.
“We analyze huge data from telco, social media, banks and anything that indicates consumers’ payment and spending behavior,” Jankovsky said.
With fintech, HCPH targets Filipinos who are excluded in formal financial institutions. These include 86 percent of unbanked and 95 percent of noncredit users in the Philippines, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Only 4.4 percent of the populace are banked.
“We help our partners provide good financing alternative for their customers who don’t have credit cards. At the same time, the huge popularity of products from companies, such as Huawei, Oppo, Samsung and Vivo, help drive demand for our financing services,” HCPH CEO Annica Witschard said.
HCPH is also encouraging local banks for the processing of high-value loans, amid the country’s thriving economic and business environment.
“The Philippines is unique in that although the unbanked segment is very large, the economy is seeing a massive boom with other consumer goods at an all-time high,” Jankovsky said.
Home Credit Philippines (HCPH), a Prague-based consumer finance firm, plans to double its loan payments in the country to P11 billion this year from its growing number of Filipino clientele.
HCPH aims to surpass its P5.4-billion receivables in May from loan applications of 1 million Filipino clients for smartphones, whose demand grew by 27 percent.
In 2016 HCPH, which uses in-store loan application and agency and online payments, grew its client base from 280,000 to 600,000.
In April it extended its partnership to stores in La Union, Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur.
Along with the expanded market and gadget sales, HCPH will capitalize on the Philippine economic growth that rose by 6.4 percent in the first quarter and strong work force that consists mainly of new graduates, call-center agents who are starting families in their 20s.
“What is attractive about this market to a retail fintech [financial technology] company like us is that the economy is growing and expected to rise further to 7 percent, according to government authorities,” HCPH CFO Zdenek Jankovsky said.
“Also, 75 percent of the country’s income come from household consumption and the demographic also remains largely young at 23 years old,” Jankovsky added.
As a fintech company, HCPH also plans to develop online retail payment and credit-data gathering technologies with financial institutions and commercial businesses for installment financing at 0-percent interest rate over its 2,500 partner-stores nationwide.
HCPH receives 120,000 loan applications a month through retailers where customers can simply fill out the loan-application form and present two identification cards.
“If you want to process 120,000 applications a month through traditional methods, you have to file piles of documents and wait. We are here to provide financial technologies and financial services that might not be served by other formal lenders,” Jankovsky said.
At present, HCPH has partnerships with foreign banks, such as Citi, ING and HSBC, and payment centers, such as 7-Eleven, pawnshops, Bayad Center and SM Bills Payment.
“We analyze huge data from telco, social media, banks and anything that indicates consumers’ payment and spending behavior,” Jankovsky said.
With fintech, HCPH targets Filipinos who are excluded in formal financial institutions. These include 86 percent of unbanked and 95 percent of noncredit users in the Philippines, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Only 4.4 percent of the populace are banked.
“We help our partners provide good financing alternative for their customers who don’t have credit cards. At the same time, the huge popularity of products from companies, such as Huawei, Oppo, Samsung and Vivo, help drive demand for our financing services,” HCPH CEO Annica Witschard said.
HCPH is also encouraging local banks for the processing of high-value loans, amid the country’s thriving economic and business environment.
“The Philippines is unique in that although the unbanked segment is very large, the economy is seeing a massive boom with other consumer goods at an all-time high,” Jankovsky said.