FintechNews.Sg | RCBC Embarks on Digital KYC with LenddoEFL to Onboard Millions of Unbanked Filipinos

Originally posted on fintechnews.sg

PHILIPPINES (Fintechnews) October 22, 2019 – Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) has sealed a partnership with LenddoEFL for faster and more convenient financial account opening for Filipinos through an end-to-end digital verification and authentication solution.  To date, Know Your Customer (KYC) processes have always required a face-to-face or real-time online interview to onboard bank customers.

“With digital KYC, consumers, particularly those who are unbanked, can open deposit accounts, apply for loans online, take out new insurance policies, do money transfers, and pay more than 2,000 billers through RCBC’s DiskarTech virtual bank in less than five minutes, anytime, anywhere. This is simply commoditizing customer convenience in an era when consumers prefer to interact through online channels,” said executive vice president and chief innovation and inclusion officer Lito Villanueva.

Government regulator Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has been at the forefront in championing inclusive digital finance and digitalization through emerging regulations leveraging on technology. “Overcoming the barriers to digital connectivity will not only promote accessibility to digital financial products, but will allow innovators to improve the design, enhance security features, and drive down the cost of financial services,” in a speech delivered by BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno at the recent 2019 Financial Executives (FINEX) conference.

“This is a game-changer as we continue to adopt alternative digital verification to help push for a more secure, faster and reliable verification process to onboard more unbanked and underserved segments into the financial system, supporting BSP's mission of financial inclusion,” said Judith Dumapay, APAC Sales Director Philippines, LenddoEFL.

Based on the 2017 Financial Inclusion Survey, only 23% of Filipino adults have a formal account. Only 48% of adults save, but 7 in 10 savers keep their savings at home. Of the 22% of Filipino adults who avail loans, 4 in 10 do so through informal sources.

Blog | What exactly do we mean when we say financial inclusion?

LenddoEFL Partner Success Manager, Gerardo Rivero, doing field research for our financial access tools

We started LenddoEFL to solve the problem of access to credit in emerging markets, where people find themselves unable to get a loan, and unable to build their credit. This excludes good people from financial services, limiting opportunity for individual livelihoods and economic growth. 

We realized that even though people may have limited financial data in a credit bureau, they have plenty of unique data that can be accessed to better understand who they are. For example, we found that analyzing the digital footprint of an individual (with full consent) helps us to get to know them and understand certain traits that relate to creditworthiness and credit risk.

Now, we are working with banks and lenders across 20+ countries to use non-traditional forms data - digital footprint, mobile behavior and psychometric to predict risk, and unlock access.

When we think about financial inclusion, there are really 3 levels, each necessary to get to the next one. 

1. Access comes first: Can you get a credit card or open a savings account? 1.7 billion adults around the world lack an account at a financial institution according to the 2017 Global Findex. Enabling these people to take that first step towards opportunity is foundational. 

2. Price: Often where access is scarce, the first loan can come from a payday lender or other institution at an unbearably high price/interest rate. So the next step to financial inclusion is bringing the price of a loan down to reasonable rates even without historical credit data. 

3. Convenience: Once you have access to credit at a fair price, the third step to financial inclusion is making it convenient to get. Historically, inclusive lending such as microfinance could involve arduous, time consuming processes with multiple in-person visits and copious document collection. We want to make borrowing easier and faster for people while maintaining safety. The beauty of moving from analog loan officer-based processes to machine learning and big data-driven processes like ours is that it becomes faster and easier. 

We believe that financial inclusion isn't simply about access to financial products, but about access to fast, affordable, and convenient financial products. Join us on our mission to #Include1Billion people around the world. We are hiring! 

Benzinga | Here Are The Benzinga Global Fintech Award Finalists For The Best Under-Banked Or Emerging Market Solution

The finalists for the Best Under-banked or Emerging Market Solution category are:

LenddoEFL
CEO: Richard Eldridge
Description: LenddoEFL's mission is to provide 1 billion people access to powerful financial products at a lower cost, faster and more conveniently.

See full list of finalists