Cebuana Lhuillier is one of the largest financial services platforms in the Philippines, with more than 4 million account holders. Image: Getty
Tech
Cebuana Lhuillier is one of the largest financial services platforms in the Philippines, with more than 4 million account holders.
Fintech platform Peppermint Innovation (ASX:PIL) continues to execute on its growth strategy, as it builds out an extensive partner network in its core market of the Philippines.
Announced this morning, the company’s latest deal is a strategic Merchant Biller Agreement (MBA) with Cebuana Lhuillier – a national store network that provides a range of micro-finance services.
Under the terms of the deal, registered agents on PIL’s bizmoto network will 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.
Cebuana is the country’s largest microfinance provider, with four million micro savings account holders and 20,000 domestic partners with key business channels in pawning, remittance, micro-insurance and micro-savings.
Commenting on the announcement, PIL CEO Chris Kain said the deal gives the business a materially enhanced geographic footprint to drive adoption and customer acquisition.
“It is yet another ‘brick in the road’ as we build out our bizmoto ecosystem, further integrating our bizmoto platform into the established Philippines’ payments industry,” Kain said.
Today’s announcement continues a positive run of news flow for Peppermint, in line with its stated distribution strategy.
At the end of March, PIL flagged a marquee partnership with Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), the country’s oldest bank, that will see PIL’s proprietary bizmoto platform integrated into BPI’s operating systems, as part of an expanded service offering for BPI customers.
And each new partnership gives Peppermint an expanded distribution base for bizmoto—its proprietary microfinance platform that covers services such as mobile payments, investing and insurance.
“Peppermint aims to continue to align itself with strategic and established partners across the Philippines’ payments landscape to ensure the bizmoto platform and ecosystem of services is convenient and accessible to as many Filipino people as possible,” Kain said.
The Cebuana product lines are also aligned to Peppermint’s four key business sectors — mobile payments, ecommerce, delivery and logistics, and mobile financial services.
And with its latest deal, the company has taken a major step forward in allowing simple access for millions of Filipono customers to use the bizmoto app and obtain immediate access to electronic funds – a major new market segment for traditionally underbanked populations.
This article was developed in collaboration with Peppermint Innovation, 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.
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