Bank-Genie, a technology company with headquarters in Singapore, continues to power the digital transformation of banks across the Philippines helping accelerate the digitization of the economy and driving financial inclusion. Bank-Genie provides low-cost banking technology solutions enabling financial institutions to digitize retail banking and consumer banking services.

“With Bank-Genie technology, banks can open branches that provide a suite of financial services with just a tablet, a small Bluetooth printer and the card reader,” said Ram Sharma, co-founder, Bank-Genie. “We believe technology is the solution to enable financial inclusion and a more productive society in markets like the Philippines.”

The tech company has successfully deployed its technology solution for banks including Union Bank of the Philippines, East West Bank, PSBank and Land Bank, and many others enabling digital transformation and frictionless banking.

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With large rural population and infrastructure gaps, it is estimated that roughly 7 in 10 Filipinos are financially excluded. According to data from the Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP), more than half of borrowers source their loans from informal sources. Lack of access to financing is also a key barrier to the growth of SMEs and MSMEs, especially rural-based small enterprises.

“Without a credit history, borrowers cannot secure loans from the banks, so what people do instead is they go and take a loan from a loan shop or a moneylender, which means that they have to pay very high interest. Which also means that already poor people gets even poorer,” said Raghu Nandan, co-founder, Bank-Genie.

“We believe technology that can be deployed at scale with minimal costs is the key driver to address the problem of the unbanked,” Sharma said.

Recently, Bank-Genie unveiled its expansion plans for the Philippines. Its technology team is very keen on enabling digital transformation for savings and community banks and on curbing the adverse cycle of financial exclusion. The team is working actively to expand its headcount in Manila as it plans on launching a range of new products in the coming months.

Bank-Genie is backed by institutional investors: including Dutch development bank FMO. This technology company has partnered with more than 30 client banks and financial institutions across Africa and Southeast Asia, with 13 client banks in the Philippines alone.