Bizmoto’s partner agreements during the quarter will expedite its foray into the Philippines’ huge under-banked market. Image: Getty
Peppermint delivers on quarterly metrics as it expands rapidly in the Philippines
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Bizmoto’s partner agreements during the quarter will expedite its foray into the Philippines’ huge under-banked market.
Fintech company Peppermint Innovation (ASX:PIL) has had a very productive quarter, after being reinstated to the ASX in February.
The relisting follows the company’s heavily oversubscribed capital raise, which managed to bring in a total of $2.5 million, after accepting an additional $500k in additional applications.
A further $1 million was also raised from shareholders who exercised their options to buy PIL shares, which shows the confidence investors have in the company.
The fresh funds have allowed the company to roll out a number of targeted marketing initiatives on its Bizmoto platform that it wasn’t able to do for the last 18 months.
Significant milestones
Peppermint’s flagship is its bizmoto micro-enterprise app platform, which operates in four vertical silos built under one ecosystem, with the Philippines being its target market.
The four verticals encompass payments, delivery & logistics, ecommerce and financial services.
Peppermint was able to achieve critical milestones on all verticals in the quarter despite the COVID-19 difficulties faced in the country.
Speaking exclusively with Stockhead this morning, Peppermint CEO, Chris Kain, said the payment segment, under its bizmoPay, was a key segment within the whole ecosystem.
“Most important in the quarter was the finalisation of our lodgement to the Philippines SEC for a financial licence for Peppermint, which will underpin our bizmoPay microfinance operations,” he said.
Once that has been approved, it will allow bizmoto agents to apply for a micro-loan to enable more transactions within the ecosystem, and pave the way for more agents to be recruited.
“bizmoPay will enable agents to put cash into their mobile wallet, a central piece to our bizmoto platform, which then allows them to conduct transactions on behalf of customers,” Kain said.
As of this quarter, the company has recruited more than 55,000 agents, but believes it can recruit at least 150,000 agents in the next 12 months, after knocking over some hurdles during the quarter.
“The first hurdle is the ability to find convenient cash-in locations for our agents, and put cash into their mobile wallets in a convenient way, which we have achieved.
“Secondly, having the ability to leave a positive balance in their wallets, that allows them to transact, which will come when bizmoPay is live.”
During the quarter, the company also launched its first financial services offering under bizmoProtect.
This came under a deal with Cebuana Lhuillier, one of the largest non-bank financial services provider in the Philippines.
The deal allows bizmoto to offer a micro-insurance product offering, and also allows its bizmoto agent network to be able to cash in money and top up their mobile wallets at any of the 2,500 Cebuana shop fronts and accredited stores across the country.
With the fresh funds now in hand, the company says it has more in the pipeline.
“It will be an exciting next two to three quarters,” Kain said.
This article was developed in collaboration with Peppermint, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
