Accelerating Credit Penetration in the Philippines

05th October 2023, Grand Hyatt Manila, Philippines

iGCB recently organised a conference to explore the opportunities presented by the unbalanced distribution of the existing SME and Retail lending landscape to the banks in the Philippines.

iGCB partnered with CNN Philippines to cover the event. Catch a glimpse of the event here:

Agenda:

16:00 hrs – Meet and Greet

16:30 hrs – Welcome Address by Rico Hizon

16:40 hrs – Keynote Address by Mr. Eugene Acevedo

17:00 hrs – Unveiling iKredit 360 built on eMACH.ai architecture for Philippines

17:30 hrs – Panel Discussion – Disruptions in retail lending

Catch a glimpse of the panel discussion here

Our Esteemed Speakers

Eugene S. Acevedo

President and Chief Executive Officer Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation

Rico Hizon

Senior Anchor and Director for Content Development CNN Philippines

Rahul Rasal

Executive VP and Retail Banking Segment Head Security Bank Corporation

Lito Villanueva

Executive VP and Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation

Manoj Varma

Senior EVP and Head of Consumer Banking UnionBank of the Philippines

Background

The banking population in the Philippines is projected to rise from 65 million in 2022 to 85 million by 2030. The rise of a young, tech-savvy consumer base is driving a surge in demand for innovative financial services

Currently, the bulk of the credit is issued to the larger corporates (76% of all loans), while small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) continue to face binding credit constraints. The country has an estimated 15 million informal entrepreneurs and self-employed workers—a massive pool of would-be borrowers with little access to traditional finance. This unbalanced distribution of existing loans—combined with a rapidly growing adult population, and the introduction of new digital technologies—makes lending prime for disruption and accelerated growth. This is a large opportunity for banks to capture.

There is growing evidence that fintech has increased access to credit for small borrowers both in advanced and emerging economies. How do banks in the Philippines compete?

• Designing financial products and services that are easy to understand and use
• Streamlining/digitizing processes to ensure accelerated access to credit
• Leveraging non-traditional sources of data, such as payment history for things like utility bills, to better determine creditworthiness for individuals
• Providing Omnichannel access to enable access to financial services in areas where traditional brick-and-mortar banks may not be present