By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad, BusinessMirror
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) is eyeing to make financing more accessible by launching a loans marketplace feature on its digital financial inclusion application.
The Yuchengco-led bank said DiskarTech will introduce the said feature to formal and informal workers, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), displaced overseas Filipinos and smallholder farmers and fishers, among others.
RCBC is rolling out this project with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
The collaboration is seen helping over 7 million informal and unregistered home-based microbusinesses secure affordable financing.
Apart from this, RCBC and DTI—through DiskarTech’s NegosyanTech program—have digitalized over 8 million community-based microenterprises.
The said program was launched in October last year to promote inclusive livelihood and social business.
Sari-sari stores and small business owners will be able to accept digital payments through quick-response codes with the use of DiskarTech. The payments will be deposited to their DiskarTech savings account which can earn 3.25 percent interest per annum. “We are very much delighted by the warm acceptance of the public of DiskarTech given the exponential number of downloads and high engagement rate,” said RCBC president and CEO Eugene Acevedo.
In a little over a month, RCBC said the local finance app has reached one million downloads.
Recently, the Yuchengco-led bank disclosed that its application to offer offshore noncumulative subordinated additional tier 1 capital securities was greenlighted by the Monetary Board. It is expected to be rated as Ba3 by Moody’s Investor Service.
Credit Suisse was tapped as the sole global coordinator and sole bookrunner of the transaction.
RCBC earlier held off its offshore offering, noting that it was still waiting for the right opportunity to go back to foreign bonds market.
In the first half, the listed bank saw its net income climb by 17 percent to P3.1 billion from P2.66 billion last year because of higher trading gains, which surged by 80.3 percent to P5.9 billion. Provision for potential losses surged by 94 percent to P5.2 billion as of end-June from P2.68 billion year-on-year.
RCBC shares ended flat at P16.40 each amid the 1.86-percent plunge for the benchmark index on Wednesday.
Source: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/08/20/rcbc-extends-accessible-financing-to-msmes/