Asenso mobile app breaks rural banking barriers
RURAL banks in the country are facing more competition in their home turf. Tapping into digital financial services, large commercial banks typically headquartered in Manila are extending their reach into countryside communities, which used to be served exclusively by their rural counterparts.
Today, visionary rural banks are responding in kind by turning to digitization to improve their operational efficiency and to reach out to new customers beyond their traditional market.
One such forward-thinking financial institution is the Rural Bank of Guinobatan Inc. (RBGI). It recently launched its Asenso mobile app for breaking location barriers to reach more people in its mission to deliver financial services to the needy, its core clientele since the start. With its latest app, RBGI lives up to its promise to empower and improve lives through innovative approaches in banking.
The Asenso app provides local business owners easy access to RBGI’s financial services. Clients can open and monitor their bank accounts, transfer money to and receive one from other accounts anytime, anywhere from any digital device.
The first rural banking mobile app in the whole of the Bicol Region, this innovation fits the demands of micro, small and medium enterprises, particularly during and after the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Engineer Paulo Honrado, RBGI president and lead visionary for financial inclusivity, collaboration and digital transformation, told The Manila Times: “We are very proud of this product. We believe this is the start of a long-term innovation journey to transform lives in the countryside for years to come.”
Rising to the challenges of the pandemic, RBGI pioneered the Asenso mobile app to allow convenient, smooth, and low-touch transactions right at the user’s fingertips. “The growing smartphone convention inspired us to further push and break barriers. Our small towns are now more than ready to experience the elevated banking experience they deserve,” Honrado pointed out.
As the name suggests, Asenso mobile app’s main purpose is to raise the bar in rural banking and help users breeze through a seamless end-to-end banking experience. The mobile app is QR codepowered which lessens manual steps to access bank accounts. With just one click, users can easily open and manage an account and avail of premium bank services such as fund transfers, remittances, bills payment, e-loading and even insurance.
“The mobile app may be a small tool, but we believe in the lasting impact it will leave on our customers’ lives,” Honrado added.
In its 56 years of existence, RBGI has been a prominent force in Bicol’s rural banking scene. The last five years paved the way for the realization of the bank’s vision in achieving steady growth in assets and profitability as it posted a 42-percent growth in resources, 77-percent increase in net income and 40-percent in deposits.
The rural banking innovator acknowledged that markets, technology, customers, products are ever-changing and that the future is bringing competition to a high level. Honrado’s leadership paved the way for business growth and consumer-oriented dynamics that is yet to be seen in the rural banking sector.
In 2003, RBGI launched its microfinance program designed to provide low-income families and micro-enterprises access to a wide range of financial services.
The Farmer Entrepreneurship Program (FEP), in partnership with the Jollibee Group Foundation, linked smallholder farmers to the supply chain of institutional markets to help improve their income. FEP was supplemented by Entrepreneurial Farmer Loan (Magsasaka Loan) which enabled small farmers to refocus production-based efforts into an agro-enterprise development undertaking.
“It is important for us to be on our toes and keep up with new developments to be able to empower the community that we serve,” Honrado noted. “I look back and see how far we have come, and this further ignites my desire to push for more service innovations that would greatly impact lives.”
The Asenso mobile app is available for Android phone users and may be downloaded via Google Playstore.