Lender expects online platform users to grow

PHILIPPINE Cashtrout Lending Corp. (PCLC) expects the country’s economic growth, improved technological landscape and more digital-savvy people would lead to doubling users of its online lending platforms “Cashoyo,” “Mocasa” and “Pesomio.”

“We observe our target user base here is 113 million at the moment,” Mocasa Chief Operating Officer Julien Chien told the Businessmirror on the sidelines of the firm’s news briefing in Makati last Wednesday. “But this number may continuously increase as the nation’s economy grows and the infrastructure becomes more mature. And because Filipinos spend most of their time using online apps, so we try to utilize the online channels.”

To note, the World Bank pegged the total population of the country at 113.9 million. Chien said since entering the Philippine market in January last year, their mobile app has been downloaded by more than one million Filipino users, of which 100,000 have been provided with credits.

Seeing that the lack of access to lending remain a problem in this country, “as shown in low-credit card penetration at around four percent today,” we are bullish that credit demand will become more strong in the coming years, Chien added. “By the end of this quarter, we’re trying to get 150,000 [credit users]. And by the end of the year, we’re looking for 300,000,” he said.

“So we focus on the underserved and unbanked populations. We want to cater to those not being served by traditional banks,” PCLC CEO Robin Wong said during the briefing.

PCLC’S documents read that the firm’s “buy now, pay later,” or BNPL, service provides borrowers an initial credit line of P3,000 to P10,000. The limit of their loan will be determined by their payment behavior with the aid of artificial intelligence, the firm added. Borrowers are given 50 days to settle their loan. Beyond that, an interest rate from 3 percent to 9 percent will be charged every month. Chien conceded that it’s “a little higher than the traditional credit card” because the default rate of their users is a bit high compared to the latter.

“Hence, we also need to cover the cost by a little higher interest rate. But this is compliant with the national limit of 15 percent of monthly interest for lending companies set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas,” he explained.

“But the interest we charge is far below the average rate [in out category],” Wong said.