Philippines – Mastercard launched a charitable partnership with the technology firm Boost Capital aimed at providing access to digital financial services for over 10,000 small enterprises in the Philippines, notably those run by women. This new alliance, backed by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, will use technology to help Filipino small businesses gain access to money, knowledge, and resources.

The initiative expands on a previous collaboration between the two groups in Cambodia and shows how improved financial literacy and digital onboarding channels may reduce risks and improve lending to small firms. In order to empower financial service providers to improve access to digital financial services by improving merchant onboarding procedures and providing financial literacy training to their small business clientele, this program in the Philippines will draw lessons and experiences from Cambodia. 

Small businesses are easily integrated using channels like Facebook Messenger, Telegram, and WhatsApp—channels that are already popular by Filipino entrepreneurs—by means of Boost Capital’s white-labelled technology platform. The company’s chat-based technology, enhanced with AI capabilities, allows service providers to digitally onboard a greater number of small business clients. 

Once on board, small businesses can then access financial services anytime, anywhere, from their cell phones. Everything about the process is automated, from choosing the goods to contracting, disbursing, and using AI for verification. 

Boost Capital will collaborate with Philippine financial service providers with funding from Mastercard Strive, a project managed by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth. Their goal is to use technology to bring more women who own small businesses into the official financial system and provide them with specialised services to grow and support their businesses. 

In addition to increasing access to financial services, the program will help small business owners strengthen their long-term financial security. This will be accomplished by integrating chat-based financial education into their financial services journey in a seamless manner. Prior research conducted in Cambodia demonstrated that small enterprises that received financial education had an 8 percent higher likelihood of making loan repayments on schedule. 

More than a million micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) in the Philippines have benefited from Mastercard’s efforts. By 2025, Mastercard aims to bring 50 million small and micro companies and 1 billion individuals into the digital economy on a global scale. As part of this program, since 2020, the organisation has helped 27 million women entrepreneurs grow their businesses by providing solutions. 

Speaking about the partnership, Shamina Singh, founder and president of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, said, “The results from our partnership in Cambodia clearly demonstrated the value that pairing credit with capacity building can have on unlocking capital for underserved small businesses. By building on that work, our aim is to empower more small businesses in the Philippines and facilitate their transition to the digital economy.” 

Meanwhile, Lucinda Revell, co-founder of Boost Capital, expressed, “We are excited to be working with Mastercard Strive to unlock and expand credit for Filipino small businesses. This new grant will extend our technology to a wider set of partners and de-risk its adoption by smaller financial service providers, who might otherwise be hesitant to go digital. Encouraging them to explore new client onboarding channels will unlock access to a wealth of digital financial services to support small business growth.” 

Lastly, Simon Calasanz, country manager for the Philippines, Mastercard, stated, “Micro and small businesses are vital engines of economic growth across the world, including in the Philippines. By fostering digital inclusion – one of the country’s strategic development priorities – this partnership with Boost Capital will provide much-needed support to Filipino small businesses and empower them to thrive. Further, by focusing on women-led enterprises, this partnership can help address the barriers faced by women entrepreneurs, enabling them to unlock their full potential.” 

He added, “This latest collaboration deepens Mastercard’s commitment to the Philippines, driving social impact in a locally relevant way, while supporting the country’s efforts to digitizing and growing small businesses, and advancing inclusive growth.” 

Sydney, Australia – Financial literacy is much more within reach today with the digital world giving way to a platform where expert content lands freely in the hands of the general audience. However, in Australia, the majority of consumers, or 76%, don’t believe that financial service brands are working hard enough to educate them on financial matters.

The data, gleaned from the latest study by Kantar Australia, also showed that 45% of Aussies want to be more financially confident, an increase of 8% from 2021. Meanwhile, there have been fewer who claim they are more financially knowledgeable (27%) than others, a 33% decrease from last year. 

In the present inflationary environment where 55% of Aussies are negative about the country’s economy, consumers are putting a greater preference for brands that help them take control of their finances (44%), up by 8%. 

“We know that wealth determines health more than ever before and achieving financial autonomy has never been more complex. Finance goals and life goals are strongly interlinked, and as more Australians reassess their lives, this research clearly reveals the gap between knowledge and decisions. Australians are dreaming of financial independence but there’s a disparity with current realities,” commented Anagha Kanhere, Kantar Australia’s Financial Services lead.

Furthermore, the research revealed that over 2 in 5 Australians wish to be financially independent in five years and think they need at least $1m to retire ‘comfortably’. This rises to 2 in 3 Gen Z and Millennials who think they need at least $2m or more.

Kanhere added, “The overwhelming lack of confidence in brands providing financial education is compounded by the 42% who feel brands don’t make information easy to understand either. This provides an enormous opportunity for brands to support and build trust with Australians.”

Personal finance is such an essential and crucial part of our success, and yet not everyone has access to content to help build one’s financial literacy. This is the goal of Home Credit, the consumer finance company, in the Philippines when they recently launched the ‘Payo Para sa Life’ (Advice for life) radio program. 

Together with Manila Broadcasting Company (MBC) and independent media agency PraXis, Home Credit launched an on-air radio program on local radio station DZRH that aims to share useful learnings and insights for financial literacy. 

Watch our full interview with Home Credit PH’s CMO Sheila Paul

Sheila Paul, Home Credit’s CMO in the Philippines, sat down with MARKETECH APAC to share more about its rationale and concept. 

The program airs at the very early morning timeslot of 4:00 to 5:00 am and this is because they are specifically targeting market vendors, farmers, fisherfolks, public transportation drivers, and security guards, who are already up and running at this particular hour. 

Why this group, Paul said, “At Home Credit, we really believe that we should focus on the grassroots level when it comes to financial literacy, [and] the same with financial inclusion, mostly these are [the] sectors that get neglected or [are] underserved.”

“Definitely, we want to focus on the class that is very hardworking. In fact, they [have] to get up super early in the morning to be able to do their jobs and travel somewhere, and that’s definitely when they have the time to listen to the radio,” she adds. 

At a time when newer media formats have sprung up–such as podcasts– some would say that radio is a slowly dying medium, but Paul said that it is about finding the right channel for their target audience. 

“Through our media studies, we still see that radio listenership is quite high, especially in the remote areas. And although digital platforms, as well as internet penetration, have expanded over the last few years, still, only 50% of Filipinos are able to access the internet daily, so their main source of news and information, as well as entertainment, is still the radio, especially in the said sector,” said Paul. 

Watch and listen to the full interview with Paul, which is now streaming on Spotify and YouTube.  

In the conversation, Paul further imparts her insights on the current financial industry, specifically the growth of BNPL services, and shares the broader state of the financial literacy of Filipinos and the role that consumer financial services like Home Credit play in their financial success. 

Singapore – B2B marketplace Proxtera together with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has launched an open financial education and action programme for MSMEs in Asia and Africa, which will be called, the ‘SME Financial Empowerment (SFE)’ programme.

The programme is a digital portal operated by Proxtera that aims to help MSMEs build foundational digital financial literacy skills, and gain a good understanding of cross-border financial services relevant to MSMEs, to help them thrive in the post-pandemic digital economy. It was rolled out last 14 June 2022 with market partners in Asia and Africa, starting with Ghana, India, the Philippines, and Singapore, and will benefit more than 400,000 MSMEs across both regions.

In addition, the SFE programme will be covering three key areas as a focus for 2022, namely Essential Financial Digital Skillset, MSME Financial Services, and Digital Economy Access & Growth. It will also be providing two certification courses that were developed in collaboration with UNDP, IFC, MAS, Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) and the Global FinTech Institute (GFI), namely Foundational Financial Literacy and Global Financial Literacy.

Saurav Bhattacharyya, Proxtera’s CEO, commented that they are proud to be the exclusive lead partner of the programme, and running the programme office that ideates, manages, and implements the rollout. 

“The SFE programme stays true to our mission of supporting MSMEs, by upskilling them to understand financial services and how best to tap into the digital marketplace effectively and globally. SFE provides that first step for individuals to embark on a journey of digital transformation, where their understanding and digital competencies mature over time, and they become part of an integrated ecosystem that allows them to truly trade business-sans-borders,” said Bhattacharyya.

Manila, Philippines – Consumer finance company Home Credit in the Philippines has partnered with the Manila Broadcasting Company (MBC) and local independent media agency PraXis, to produce an on-air radio program over MBC’s radio station DZRH and its sister stations across the archipelago.

The two-minute daily radio show will discuss topics around the fundamental financial literacy issues every Filipino needs to know—saving money, managing budget, accessible financial options, rising above debts, growing money, and tips on entrepreneurship. The radio program will also tackle digital transformation and financial fraud prevention.

Said effort is in line with Home Credit’s thrust of championing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) programs by pushing financial inclusion among the underserved sector in the country. This is also in support of the government’s goal of pushing financial literacy to more Filipinos, especially among those in the informal sector.

Ken Lerona, head of PR at Home Credit Philippines, said, “With the majority of Filipinos still trying to rise from the effects of the pandemic, the financial literacy radio program hopes to uplift the lives of the hard-working class by helping them choose sound decisions in managing their hard-earned money and keeping their overall financial health.”

He added, “Now, more than ever, we need to own our part and collaborate to help the nation, especially our fellow Filipinos who are unbanked and underserved. Through this collaboration with DZRH and PraXis, we at Home Credit hope to push financial inclusion and financial literacy to millions of our kababayans (countrymen) across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.”

To effectively carry out this radio program, Home Credit Philippines and PraXis will collaborate to find topics that will help address and shed light on Filipinos’ financial concerns.

Jun Nicdao, president of the Manila Broadcasting Company, commented, “As the most credible A.M. station that Filipinos listen to, it is an honour for us at MBC-DZRH to provide Home Credit the platform to promote financial literacy among Filipinos. We are confident that through this partnership, we will be able to equip Filipinos with the right values and knowledge that will help them come up with the right decisions in their personal finances.”

Meanwhile, Gladys Basinillo, CEO at PraXis, said, “We are delighted to be part of Home Credit and DZRH’s advocacy in promoting financial literacy and inclusion among Filipinos. It is a collaboration that we really look forward to, and we hope to inspire Filipinos to be better at managing their finances. We’re excited to bring people and institutions together in making initiatives that can impact the lives of Filipinos.”

The financial literacy program will air on DZRH beginning June 2022, during its prime time between 4:00 to 5:00 a.m.

Malaysia – Financial education platform HeyAlfred has launched anew the famous money savings challenge, ‘Simpan Challenge’, but this time in a mobile experience. 

The Simpan Challenge, which encourages Malaysians to save RM1,000 or US$242 in 30 days, was first introduced in the country by well-known financial literacy advocate, Abuayubul Al-Ansari or also known as ‘Abang Abu, Mekanik Wang’, in 2009. Abang Abu has likewise been roped in as a partner in the campaign, with HeyAlfred also tying up with savings app Pod. 

HeyAlfred Simpan Challenge

HeyAlfred refers to a Bank Negara study that 75% of Malaysians find it hard to raise RM1,000 in cash for emergencies. The campaign aims to prove this wrong by fostering a savings habit among Malaysians.

Successful savers that will be able to hit the target RM1,000 within the set period will win a cash prize from the cash pool prize, to be distributed among all the winners.

Interested participants would need to download the HeyAlfred app and sign up to join. A participant fee of RM20 is actually required to be able to join, but upon registration, an amount of RM10 will be added to the cash pool prize.

During the Simpan Challenge, participants will be able to get practical and actionable saving tips every day for the entire 30 days. Participants are encouraged to invite friends to join to increase the cash pool prize.

Participants get close to winning as they collect the required number of points by saving RM1,000 and more. More points are also added by completing in-app tasks

Winners of the challenge will have the cash prize credited to their Pods’ Saving account at the end of the challenge. The challenge starts on 7 April 2021.