Bayad, the country’s major facilitator of bills payments, plans to partner with more fintech firms in completing loan payments to private lenders.

“There’s more than 300 fintech players and a third of that are in payments,” Bayad president Lawrence Ferrer told DAILY TRIBUNE in its talk show Straight Talk on Wednesday.

“But to achieve financial inclusion, we need to work together,” he stressed.

According to the Fintech Report 2024 by Fintech Alliance, only 22.2 percent of fintech firms in the country offer loans compared to 35.4 percent for payments.

Digital loans to grow

However, Ferrer said lending by fintech firms and digital banks will likely accelerate as the world shifts to app-based and other digital services.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported over 50 percent of the country’s population own a smartphone while the adoption rate for SIM cards reached 120 percent.

McKinsey, a global market researcher, reported three Philippine digital banks dominated between January 2021 and January 2023, namely GoTyme, UnionDigital Bank and UNO Bank which posted a combined value market growth of $3 billion compared to traditional banks’ $2.2 billion.

“We’re collaborators and we aim to provide every Filipino with convenient financial services,” Ferrer said.