Finovation reimagines the future of credit access through collaboration driven by technology and innovation | BusinessMirror
Aiming
to strengthen financial literacy and inclusion in the Philippines,
eCompareMo—the country’s leading website for banking and insurance
services—presents Finovation 2019: Real Problems, Real Solutions.
First
held in 2018, the event is expected to facilitate thought leadership to
simplify and provide valuable financial services for more stakeholders.
Happening
on September 25, 2019, at the Manila Peninsula Hotel, Finovation will bring
together the nation’s leading banks, insurance companies, government
regulators, and policymakers to address the financial needs of Filipinos, most
especially credit access, via innovative and technical solutions.
Finovation’s
goals are motivated by current consumer behavior toward credit and lending.
Findings from a previous study conducted by eCompareMo and Rappler show that
Filipinos, despite their glaring need for money and tendency to try out riskier
lending schemes, engage less in formal financial services.
Some
simply dislike the idea of credit cards, find them unnecessary, or think that
they may encourage overspending. Others just don’t know how to apply for one,
much less use and maintain it.
Those
who do attempt to apply for a credit card often realize its value too late, or
become discouraged after getting their application rejected. Majority of these
respondents think that their salary grade or their credit history is
insufficient for a successful application. Others just have completely no idea
why they got rejected in the first place.
While
the reasons and sentiments vary, they all stem from financial illiteracy and
lack of inclusion. eCompareMo CEO Stephanie Chung sees this as a golden
opportunity to improve access to proper financial education, reiterating that
this is the first step toward reimagining credit access and strengthening
financial infrastructure. “Filipinos need to understand that they need to
educate themselves first about these financial concepts,” says Chung. “At the
same time, industry leaders need to help the public understand what they must
do to empower themselves financially, so more people can close the gap between
being a rejected applicant to somebody who the banks will consider for credit
services.”
Chung
advises that educating more people about credit and responsible lending can
help them improve not only their credit scores and bank relationships, but also
their overall lives. She positions the credit card as an indispensable tool
that can assist with both day-to-day needs and emergencies. To achieve these
benefits, Chung and her partners have engineered eCompareMo to help more
Filipinos espouse responsible credit use through advanced financial technology.
Partnering
with leading banks and insurance companies to create a marketplace for their
services, eCompareMo also offers the latest innovations to their clients,
helping them expand their reach and impact. Users of the portal are seamlessly
linked to the financial or insurance product that perfectly fits their needs
and budget.
Through
Finovation, eCompareMo hopes to spark more conversations and help fine-tune
fintech solutions, gathering ideas from diverse thought leaders. Headlining
this year’s event is the Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Benjamin
Diokno.
Panel
discussions on the current credit and financial inclusion landscape in the
Philippines, customer centricity of financial services, credit scoring, and
responsible lending will also engage attendees, all geared toward rebuilding
and strengthening the necessary infrastructure for financial literacy and
inclusion.