A SINGAPORE-BASED technology company continues to power digital transformation of banks across Philippines helping accelerate the digitization of the economy and driving financial inclusion.
Financial solutions provider, Bank-Genie, provided low-cost technology applications that enable banks to digitize the retail banking and consumer banking services.
“With Bank-Genie technology, banks can open branches that provide a suite of financial services with just a tablet, a small Bluetooth printer and the card reader,” said Ram Sharma, Bank-Genie co-founder. “We believe technology is the solution to enable financial inclusion and a more productive society in markets like the Philippines.”
The tech company has successfully deployed its technology solution for banks, including UnionBank, East West Bank, PSBank and LandBank and many others enabling digital transformation and frictionless banking.
With large rural population and infrastructure gaps, it is estimated that roughly 7 in 10 Filipinos are financially excluded. According to data from the Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas, more than half of borrowers source their loans from informal sources. Lack of access to financing is also a key barrier to the growth of micros, small and medium enterprises or MSMEs, especially rural-based small enterprises.
“Without a credit history, borrowers cannot secure loans from the banks, so what people do instead is they go and take a loan from a loan shop or a moneylender, which means that they have to pay very high interest,” said Raghu Nandan, Bank-Genie co-founder. “Which also means that already poor people get even poorer.”
“We believe technology that can be deployed at scale with minimal costs is the key driver to address the problem of the unbanked,” Sharma said.
Nandan and Sharma shared their enthusiasm for the potential power of technology to bring banking services to millions of people in remote parts of a country as vast as the Philippines. Bank-Genie's technology platform is one way of overcoming the cost factor that inhibits banks from serving remote communities.
Recently, Bank-Genie unveiled its big expansion plans for the Philippines. Its technology team is very keen in enabling digital transformation for savings and community banks and in curbing the adverse cycle of financial exclusion. The team is working actively to expand its headcount in Manila as it plans to launch a range of new products in the coming months.
“Our vision has always been to bring the bank at every doorstep and democratize financial services to make it accessible to every citizen of the world,” said Sharma.
Bank-Genie is backed by institutional investors: including Dutch development bank FMO. This technology company has partnered with more than 30 client banks and financial institutions across Africa and Southeast Asia, with 13 client banks in the Philippines alone.
