PNB, PLDT units automate SSS pension loan process

MANILA, Philippines – PNB Savings Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Philippine National Bank, has tied up with a unit of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) to automate the end-to-end pension loans process of the Social Security System (SSS).

The savings bank has partnered with Voyager Innovations Inc. to explore the automation of the end-to-end SSS pension loans process from application to loan release.

Voyager’s tech-enabled loans platform Lendr would help ease the loans process of the SSS.

Lendr is a fully digital, multi-channel, telco and bank-agnostic platform that financial institutions and credit providers can use to reach consumers planning to avail themselves of loans through a single online “marketplace.”

PLDT and Smart chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said the company is excited to welcome PNB Savings Bank into the Lendr marketplace for consumer loans.

“Together, we aim to build a robust digital platform so that more of the unbanked and uncarded segment population can get access to financial products easily and participate actively in the growing digital economy,” Pangilinan said.

PNB Savings president and chief executive officer Joven Hernandez said exploring new and untapped markets is a key priority of growth for the bank.

“We’re glad to collaborate with Voyager in this endeavor through Lendr. We aim to marry our expertise in financial services with Voyager’s leadership in digital innovations to bring this platform to reality for the benefit of more Filipinos nationwide,” he said.

Through the partnership, PNB Savings Bank envisions to broaden its reach across consumers and conveniently offer its suite of loan products to its clientele, majority of which are SSS pensioners.

Consumers, meanwhile, would be given easy, always-on and always-connected access to loans whenever they need them, which may be via SMS, mobile app, or online.

PNB Savings Bank joins an esteemed roster of local savings banks and rural banks to deploy and/or explore the use Lendr online marketplace platform for loans.

Other banks include Asia United Bank, China Bank Savings, Malayan Savings Bank, RCBC Savings Bank, and over 15 rural banks.

Both the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) and the Chamber of Thrift Banks (CTB) have signed collaboration agreement to promote Lendr across its member banks.

Lito Villanueva, vice president and head of Financial Innovations, Digital Inclusion and Alliances at Voyager, said banks and financial institutions are already recognizing the need to ride on the wave of financial technology or “fintech” innovations in order to expand their markets and continue on a growth trajectory.