Decision makers in getting loans are women — Home Credit

Today’s women have control of their lives within their families and consumer finance institution Home Credit reveals that over 50 percent of their borrowers now are women.

“We have 10.4 million acquired Filipino customers to date, 5.5 million of which are women, or over the 50 percent mark. Last year, 560,000 women signed a loan contract with us, also over 50 percent of the 1.1 million customers we acquired,” said Sheila Paul, the chief marketing officer of Home Credit Philippines in an interview with reporters on Friday in Makati City.

Paul said last year, during their qualitative studies on the financial behavior of certain segments it was revealed that decision-makers in obtaining loans were women, with an age range of from 28 to 35 years old.

Mothers consulted on purchases

“In families, mothers are being consulted on purchases for loan applications. The study said 55 to 60 percent of women are buying cellular phones and gadgets such as laptops, followed by television sets,” according to Paul.

The top brand purchased by borrowers was iPhone.

She said right now, purchases on e-bike and air conditioning units are prevalent, while the average amount being borrowed from Home Credit is between P15,000 and P20,000.

Paul said the number of retailers that offer Home Credit financing is currently at 15,000 and counting, while their sales agents are more than 8,000 scattered nationwide.

For more than 10 years now, Home Credit has provided a total of P295.7 billion in loans granted to more than 10 million customers across the country through installments, cash loans, and revolving credit products.

Bad loans

Non-performing loans, or loans not paid by lenders, are in the Home Credit expected range, which is under 10 percent and a healthy rate, Paul said.

“For us, 2023 was a good year but we want to be still conservative for 2024 because so much is happening in the global arena,” she said.

In 2022, Home Credit recorded a customer base of 9.3 million, mainly driven by continued expansion efforts towards lifestyle-oriented segments and categories.

Last month, Home Credit announced that it signed an agreement for an additional P7 billion loan facility with Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands, making BPI the company’s biggest creditor with a total of P13.5 billion combined credit line facilities. 

Loan credit facility

The said loan credit facility extended by BPI to Home Credit was the third from the bank, following a P1 billion facility in December 2022, and P4 billion in August 2023, apart from the additional P1.5 billion in November 2023 from Robinsons Bank Corporation, following its recent merger with BPI.

“The third loan was done because we wanted to maintain a healthy cash flow. So, we still get funding from banks to be able to have growth in the business,” Paul stressed.

Home Credit Philippines was issued a double-A Issuer Credit Rating with a stable outlook by PhilRatings (Philippine Rating Services Corporation), a pioneer domestic credit rating agency, in 2023 based on its overall creditworthiness and ability to meet all its financial commitments and sustain its growth in its market.