FUSE LENDING, Inc., the credit arm of e-wallet GCash, expects double-digit growth in loan disbursements this year as it targets to reach underserved individuals and small businesses.
Fuse Lending President and Chief Executive Officer Tony Isidro told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of an event last week that he expects their loans to post “at least a double-digit growth” this year.
“We’re still very bullish on the opportunities, not just for this year, but for the coming years. As I said, the opportunity or the gap is just extremely big and we remain committed, not just as Fuse but as GCash, to provide that access to fair loans where previously there was none,” Mr. Isidro added.
Fuse Lending, through GCash, has disbursed P155 billion in loans so far to 5.4 million borrowers as of end-June, he said. Majority of the borrowers were individuals who availed of personal loans.
Mr. Isidro said the e-wallet’s users use GCash loan products for day-to-day purposes.
“As much as we see unemployment at manageable levels, it’s unfortunately still not enough for a big majority of Filipinos. So, they use our products such as GCredit or GLoan or GGives or even our newly introduced Sakto loans to really augment their income. That’s really been their lifeline,” he said.
GLoan Sakto, a nano-loan offer that enables GCash users to borrow small amounts as much as P100 to P300 instantly payable in 14 days with zero interest, has seen significant growth since its launch last year, he noted.
“We introduced Sakto Loans a few months ago and we’ve been able to scale that up over the past months. And we’re seeing very good repayment rates.”
GCash will also continue to cater to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as the country’s economic growth is seen spurring small businesses’ expansion, Mr. Isidro said.
“With the economy continuing to grow and with more businesses looking for opportunities, we hope to bridge that gap on the MSME side,” he said. “Currently, a significant chunk is still the retail customers. But nonetheless, a significant chunk is from MSMEs. And the goal, not just for this year but 2025 onwards also, is to grow both. The gap is really just so big for both retail and MSMEs.”
GCash is also increasing its engagement with rural communities to help give them access to the e-wallet amid a lack of internet infrastructure in these areas, GCash Chief Strategy Officer Rowena L. Zamora told BusinessWorld last week.
“We are also ramping up on our offline activations and engagements by meeting the customers where they are. We don’t assume that everyone will discover us online through the app because not everyone is on a smartphone and not everyone is tech-savvy in that sense,” Ms. Zamora said.
“We meet them in their communities or local government units, so at least that serves as an entry point for them to be introduced to the app and what it can do for them,” she added.
GCash is also working with its telecommunication partners to improve connectivity in underserved areas, Ms. Zamora said.
She added that the company is looking to roll out more innovative products in its bid to help boost financial inclusion in the country.
“We also have certain features in the app that we call zero-rated use cases, such as not needing load in order to use certain features,” Ms. Zamora said. “We ensure that everything that we do from a product, innovation, communication perspective falls under that goal (financial inclusion)… and really ensuring that we are able to measure the impact of those things.” — Aaron Michael C. Sy