Mastercard Philippines has teamed up with technology provider Boost Capital to enhance the growth of over 10,000 small businesses by expanding their access to digital financial services.
“Micro and small businesses are vital engines of economic growth across the world, including in the Philippines. By fostering digital inclusion — one of the country’s strategic development priorities — this partnership with Boost Capital will provide much-needed support to Filipino small businesses and empower them to thrive.
Further, by focusing on women-led enterprises, this partnership can help address the barriers faced by women entrepreneurs, enabling them to unlock their full potential,”
stated Mastercard Philippines Country Manager Simon Calasanz.
He added that this collaboration with Boost Capital deepens the commitment of Mastercard to the Philippines, driving social impact locally while supporting the country’s efforts in digitising and growing small businesses and advancing inclusive growth.
Mastercard aims to replicate the success of a similar programme in Cambodia, where it partnered with two organisations. Shamina Singh, Founder and President of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, noted,
“The results from our partnership in Cambodia clearly demonstrated the value that pairing credit with capacity building can have on unlocking capital for underserved small businesses. By building on that work, our aim is to empower more small businesses in the Philippines and facilitate their transition to the digital economy.”
Similar to the Cambodian programme, Mastercard Philippines plans to improve merchant onboarding through financial literacy training and by increasing access to digital financial services. Small businesses that received financial education were found to be 8% more likely to repay loans on time, based on results from the Cambodian programme.
Boost Capital utilises channels such as Facebook Messenger, Telegram, and WhatsApp, familiar to Filipino entrepreneurs, to onboard small businesses. The platform’s chat-based technology, integrated with artificial intelligence (AI), allows service providers to digitally onboard more customers, providing 24/7 access to financial services via smartphones.
“The entire process is automated, from product selection, through AI-driven verification, to contracting and disbursement,”
Boost Capital explained.
The programme is also funded by Mastercard Strive, a portfolio of philanthropic initiatives under the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, aiming to help more than 10 million small businesses globally thrive digitally.
Boost Capital Co-Founder Lucinda Revell expressed excitement about the collaboration, stating,
“We are excited to be working with Mastercard Strive to unlock and expand credit for Filipino small businesses. This new grant will extend our technology to a wider set of partners and de-risk its adoption by smaller financial service providers, who might otherwise be hesitant to go digital.
Encouraging them to explore new client onboarding channels will unlock access to a wealth of digital financial services to support small business growth.”
Boost Capital is also focused on bringing more female small business owners into the formal financial ecosystem, providing them with the necessary services to support and grow their businesses through its technology.
Featured image credit: Edited from Freepik
