Peppermint Innovation has achieved a key milestone with an EMI licence in the Philippines, massively expanding the reach of its bizmoto app.

Aussie-listed fintech Peppermint Innovation (ASX:PIL) fully owned subsidiary Peppermint Bizmoto Inc. (PBI) has been granted a licence to operate as an Electronic Money Issuer (EMI) in the Philippines.

The Central Bank of the Philippines, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), granted the EMI licence, which authorises PBI to deliver e-wallet services through its bizmoto mobile app.

The company’s strategy is to provide an alternative non-bank lending option for the millions of Filipinos who are either unbanked or under-banked.

The EMI is a key milestone for Philippine-focused PIL, enabling any Filipino, not just bizmoto agents, to use the bizmoto platform to receive digital money and access digital services.

The accreditation enables Peppermint and bizmoto users to join the 38.88 million Filipinos transacting digitally, following bizmoto’s integration with fund transfers services such as InstaPay and PESONet and with non-banking institutions for cash-in and cash-out services.

The EMI licence also significantly extends PIL’s opportunity to reach micro-entrepreneurs and provide digital payments for their businesses.

They can apply for bizmoPay loans, purchase bizmoProtect micro-insurance policies and future bizmoto platform products and services.

The company last year signed a deal with global company Turnkey Lender to deliver all the backend support for bizmoPay.

 

Working to improve financial position of marginalised

PIL aims to connect marginalised Filipinos such as farmers, fishermen and micro-small-medium entrepreneurs, as well as people living on day-to-day pay cheques so they can safely and more quickly receive their salaries, pension, social security benefits and other government financial assistance.

The company plans to soon start work on a pilot program in a local community to facilitate financial inclusion by encouraging members to become bizmoto users so they can immediately access digital and mobile payments as an alternative to cash transactions.

Managing director and CEO Chris Kain said the issuance of an EMI licence for Peppermint will, ultimately, deliver significant value to PIL.

“Clearly, the digital revolution is with us and the bizmoto platform can now facilitate any e-money transaction and service open-loop e-wallet accounts, providing Filipinos with a convenient and secure way to receive digital money and services,” he said.

“Every Filipino has the opportunity to access a wide range of goods and services from the bizmoto platform, as well as apply for a bizmoPay loan, which gets paid directly to their bizmoto e-wallet to enable seamless transactions across the bizmoto ecosystem.”

 

EMI a significant milestone

Kain said the issuance of an EMI licence to Peppermint also affirms its previously stated three-phase business strategy.

“We always said one of our operational objectives was to obtain an EMI licence and we’ve now achieved that milestone,” he said.

PIL is fortunate to receive an EMI licence given the BSP’s decision last December to impose a two-year ban on issuing any further non-bank or bank-owned EMIs to ensure a liquidity-strong digital payments sector.

“We’re excited to share the BSP’s vision that 50% of all retail transactions that occur throughout the Philippines are digital by 2023, and that 70% of Filipino adults have formal bank accounts by 2023,” Kain said.

“The BSP says this shift can be made by offering customers faster and more affordable payment options that provide greater convenience, which is exactly what the Peppermint-powered bizmoto platform is all about.

“Peppermint is committed to providing digitised services that benefit Filipino people and contribute to the continued increase of digital money adoption throughout the Philippines.”

 

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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