FINTQ, the financial technology arm of Voyager Innovations, Inc., was recently named the sole winner of the Excellence in Fintech Lending category from the London-based Lafferty Global Awards for its pioneering Mobile Loan Saver digital lending platform in partnership with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK).
The LANDBANK Mobile Loan Saver (LMLS) service was hailed as one of the breakthrough innovations in financial technology that “puts the mobile device at the heart of its offering.” It joins the likes of Sterling Bank of Nigeria, Barclays Africa, UAE bank ADIB, Mexican bank Banorte South Africa’s FNB, and Diamond Bank of Nigeria in what the Lafferty Global Awards deemed as a “diverse range” of leaders in global financial services.
“This recognition cements the Philippines’ position, not just as a leader in mobile as it has been known for many years, but as an emerging powerhouse for financial technology solutions as well. Standing on the successes of our award-winning digital lending platform, we at Voyager and FINTQ are determined to bring more ‘fintech’ innovations not only to Filipinos, but in other emerging markets as well in collaboration with our strategic local and global partners” said FINTQ Managing Director Lito Villanueva.
“One thing that struck the judges is that almost no area of banking is untouched by mobile technology,” added Lafferty COO Rónán Lynch. “It’s clear to us that banks and payments businesses are spending a lot of their innovation budgets on mobile — and there’s probably a lot more innovation to come in the area of mobile banking, mobile payments and mobile technology. That applies whether we’re talking about wealthy parts of the world or poor parts of the world.”
Revolutionizing lending
LMLS has revolutionized the way borrowers, who were mostly government employees, apply for salary loans using their mobile phones. With a simple text message, borrowers are able to apply and secure approval notifications for their loan applications.
Due to its ease and convenience, LMLS has yielded over a hundred percent growth in outstanding loans in excess of P15 billion year-on-year, while loans booked increased by almost a hundred percent to more than 100,000, since its launch two years ago.
The groundbreaking service is already being used by a large number of borrowers from across the country, with transactions coming from all 81 provinces, 90 percent of the 145 cities and eight percent of the 1,490 municipalities. True to its financial inclusion mandate, LMLS has enabled borrowers from far-flung areas, with more than 20 percent coming from low-income cities and municipalities.
“Over 45% of the borrowers filed their electronic loan application outside banking hours, probably making it the country’s best practice model on branchless banking while further promoting greater access to finance,” added Villanueva.
The digital lending service will soon be expanded to other segments such as overseas Filipinos, small farmers in the agriculture sector, healthcare via medicine loans and the informal segments. This includes other consumer loan products namely: auto, motorcycle, housing, credit cards, pension aside from the existing mSME, personal and salary loans.
Over the past three decades, Lafferty Group has worked to identify, share and reward long-term, sustainable excellence in financial services. These awards celebrate outstanding work particularly where institutions have found innovative or creative ways to better provide a delightful customer experience.
