By Jessica Fenol, ABS-CBN News
MANILA – RCBC’s Diskartech app will offer several loan products next month and will also launch its interface in the Visayan language to attract more users, one of its officials said Wednesday.
DiskarTech, a Taglish fintech app, so far has close to 4 million app downloads, 2.8 million registered users and close to 1 million verified users, RCBC executive vice president and chief innovation and inclusion officer Lito Villanueva told reporters in a virtual briefing.
With the introduction of the Visayan language, the second most widely spoken tongue in the country, DiskarTech aims to tap some 24 percent of the population concentrated in Visayas and Mindanao, Villanueva said.
“We are trying to promote to the public the value of savings especially during the pandemic,” Villanueva said.
“We know that language is still a barrier…[DiskarTech] will now enable a great chunk of the population to be able to really familiarize themselves in the use of the app,” he added.
PAPERLESS LOANS
At least 10 loan products from partner lending companies will also be introduced this April under its loans marketplace, to give Filipinos access to funds and avoid exponential interest rates of illegal street lenders known as 5-6, Villanueva said.
Car loan, truck loan, second-hand car loan, secondhand truck loan, PUV taxi loan, multi-cab loan, multi-cab refinancing loan, motorcycle loan, tricycle loan and housing loan are among the products lined up, the bank said.
All these are focused on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to help them grow their businesses, Villanueva said.
The entire loan process will be “paperless” including repayment using the app’s Bills Payment feature.
The app eyes disbursing half a billion loans for “Phase 1” of its loan marketplace, he added.
DiskarTech said it has been promoting savings and financial inclusion, especially during the pandemic.
Villanueva said deposits rose 135 percent in February from January this year. Deposits on the app earn 3.5 percent. DiskarTech is different from its competition since it focuses on just the important feature and is the only Taglish app there is, he said.
At least 10 more fintech apps are expected to enter the market this year, Villanueva said, after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas identified “digital banks” as a new category.
Neobank Tonik, which launched in the Philippines earlier last week, offers up to 4.5 percent interest on savings and up to 6 percent interest on time deposits.
ING’s digital bank also offers 4 percent interest rates on savings for new clients.
The BSP eyes spreading financial inclusivity by growing the digital payments sector in the country using InstaPay and PESONet under the National Retail Payment System.
Full story here.