Singapore-based AsiaKredit has launched pera247, a mobile lending app designed to provide unsecured small-ticket, short-term consumer loans for up to 90 days via a mobile wallet.
Although initially launched in the Philippines, AsiaKredit says it plans to offer pera247 to other parts of emerging Asia. The solution targets the country’s underbanked population who have no existing credit or collateral history. A Philippine Central Bank January 2017 survey estimates that 86% of Filipino households do not have bank accounts.
The pera247 platform uses big data to optimize the credit assessment process to make fast and reliable credit decisions. As part of its credit assessment process, pera247 will extract a selection of data points from both traditional and alternative sources of data, such as behavioral mobile data from an applicant’s smartphone.
Using the AsiaKredit team’s proprietary digital technology and technical know-how, pera247 is able to incorporate highly predictive digital credit assessment into its underwriting algorithm to improve both the availability of credit to those with limited or no banking history as well as increase their approval rate, whilst reducing its cost of risk.
At the end of the credit decision journey, the pera247 app also acts as a mobile wallet for the successful applicant, where funds will be disbursed to and linked to thousands of physical payment centers, within hours of the application.
AsiaKredit’s co-founder and chief executive officer, Mike Singh, commented: “We are excited to take consumer lending fully digital in the Philippines as we see a dynamic shift in consumer digital behavior to access financial services through mobile and online channels. We look forward to establish ourselves as a strong player in the digital lending space across the exciting emerging markets of Asia.”
AsiaKredit plans to expand into Indonesia in 2018.
First published in FinTech Innovation