The Philippine Star

UnaCash ramps up mobile app financing

- – Lawrence Agcaoili

Financial technology firm UnaCash continues to disrupt the personal finance space in the Philippine­s, having served 700,000 customers and partnering with over 100 merchants nationwide.

To date, UnaCash has generated $12 million worth of revenues and granted more than $6 million worth of loans with an average of 7,500 app downloads daily.

Nikita Saigutin, CEO at UnaCash, said tech-savvy Filipinos continue to embrace digitaliza­tion.

“Despite previously lagging behind the peers in Southeast Asia, Filipinos have become one of the frontrunne­rs in adopting and mastering digital financial solutions. To further boost our growth opportunit­ies in the Philippine­s and address such demand, we will focus on diversifyi­ng the financial products and services we offer to tap new markets,” Saigutin said.

A significan­t share of the Philippine population is digitally savvy: 74.1 percent of the adult population uses a smartphone, averaging over five hours of mobile usage daily. This is coupled with a rapidly developing 68 percent internet penetratio­n in the country.

Despite the staggering statistics, merchants and financial services struggle to reach clients in the online space. Only eight percent of consumers use their mobile phones for financial transactio­ns, and only 18 percent utilize digital banking services.

This, along with 11.9 percent credit card penetratio­n, suggests a clear lack of quality digital financial services. Financial inclusion gap continues to be a major concern in the Philippine­s.

UnaCash is a financial mobile app that provides seamless access to digital finance and installmen­t e-shopping options. Relying on a robust technical base and expertise, the service addresses the demand for accessible financing among underbanke­d Filipinos.

It offers cash loans and revolving credit for buying goods on a Buy Now, Pay Later plan from its partner merchants.

“Working in the Philippine­s, we see a huge demand for quality financial services. This becomes our driving force; it encourages us to work relentless­ly on UnaCash, improving existing services and introducin­g new ones,” Saigutin said.

Financial services like UnaCash can make a significan­t contributi­on to the government’s goal of becoming a cashless society. UnaCash is about providing the financial services that people can benefit from through easier access and more transparen­cy in the money flow.

“In doing so, we will work on establishi­ng new partnershi­ps while strengthen­ing old ones. It enables us to reach farther and offer more to the community. Going further, we are looking towards the offline market and introducin­g them to a safer and more technologi­cally driven financial service,” Saigutin said.

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