First Metro Asset opens fund investing to unbanked

First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC), through its management arm, has tapped additional digital payment channels to push financial inclusion through increased electronic transactions in support of the efforts of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

FMIC’s First Metro Asset Management Inc. (FAMI) has added ECPay and GCash as payment channels.

FAMI president Karen Liza Roa said even the unbanked sector could now access a wide range of financial services through the digital payment channels.

“More than the convenience of anytime, anywhere investing, digital transactions have provided FAMI the opportunity to encourage more Filipinos to invest. This is good news for many Filipinos who dream of financial independence but are not reached by conventional financial infrastructures,” Roa said.

According to the BSP’s financial inclusion dashboard, the number of cities and municipalities with banking presence in the country has increased by 1.76 percent for the first quarter of 2019.

The number of depositors, both individual and institutional accounts also surged by 31.9 percent to 60.7 million from 46 million.

Though this is a welcome development for the Philippine banking system, it only represents an estimated 22.6 percent of the total adult population with a formal account, which means many still don’t have access to basic financial services.

To promote financial inclusion, the BSP has looked into the use of digital payments such as e-money instruments, to provide financial services to the unserved and underserved population.

BSP data showed the use of e-money has gained traction and popularity among Filipinos with active e-money accounts increasing by 132.7 percent between 2017 and 2018.

Roa said technology is changing the Philippine investment landscape as it brings economic empowerment to more people as the once elusive and exclusive financial services are now within reach through the BSP’s National Retail Payment System (NRPS) providing direction in carrying out retail payment activities.

“By adopting digital payment transactions in remitting investments for mutual funds, FAMI has opened a wealth of opportunities to many Filipinos,” Roa said.

FAMI mutual fund investors can add more to their investments by using the GCash app.

Also with ECPay, investments can be remitted through any of ECPay’s retail chain partners such as 7-Eleven, San Mig Food Avenue, select Petron stations, Prince Warehouse, LCC Malls, NCCC Supermarkets, RD Pawnshop, H Lhuillier, and Global access. With its partnership with 7-Eleven, investments can also be made through CLiQQ, 7-Eleven’s mobile wallet app, which also lets users earn rewards points.