Czech lender Home Credit looks to invest another P19 billion in The Philippines

The Prague-based company is all-in on the Pinoy Promise.

With the World Bank announcing The Philippines as the 10th fastest growing economy in the world, it’s no wonder foreign investors continue to flock to our shores. One player in the finance industry that’s given a nod to our country’s growth is Home Credit (HC) from the Czech Republic.

How much does HC believe in The Philippines? Something to the tune of P19 billion. In an October 16 announcement, Zdenek Jankovsky, HC Consumer Finance Philippines, Inc. Chief Financial Officer, announced an PHP18.6 billion projected amount of investments over the next two years.

It couldn’t have come at a better time. With President Duterte’s P3 Program sending waves across the lending landscape, it’s not merely financial empowerment that we can look forward to, but an improvement in financial literacy across the archipelago.

Opportunity in these islands

So where does HC fit? Their target market mainly includes Filipinos who don’t have credit cards, offering cash loans for purchases such as gadgets and home appliances, among others.

With how much The Philippines has fulfilled its promise as a digital and social media bubble, HC’s certainly barked up the right tree, and they’re putting their money where their mouth is.

“We bring financial services to these unbanked clients, so that they don’t need to tap the gray market loans,” said Jankovsky, adding that since they opened in 2013, a staggering 70-80% of their clients have been first time borrowers with no credit history.

He also noted that most of their current loans are for gadgets, at an average of PHP9,000 payable in nine months, with 4% interest rate. The cash loan average is currently at PHP41,000 payable in 33 months.

HC is also looking to grow its workforce next year by 4,000 employees. It currently has two call centers in Quezon City.

via Philippine News Agency / Kris Crismundo