FILIPINOS’ rising spending power has prompted a Japan-based credit service firm to expand its footprint in the Philippines.
Yesterday, ÆON Credit Service (Philippines) Inc. opened its second branch in the country in the Globe Tower in Cebu Business Park.
u00c6ON Credit Service (Philippines) president Takayuki Araki said Cebu’s flourishing economy has inspired them to expand their business in Cebu to cater to the growing and more empowered consumer market in the Visayas and Mindanao.
He noted the expansion of their partner-merchants to Cebu pushed them to build a presence.
u00c6ON Credit Service (Philippines) offers an installment plan, a loan facility availed of mostly by individuals without credit cards to buy consumer products through partner merchants and store affiliates.
“We provide financial support to non-credit cardholders or those that don’t have any bank record so they could purchase consumer products like appliances, cellphones and gadgets, and furniture,” said Araki.
The credit firm has about 500,000 customers nationwide with 10 partner merchants in Cebu--SM Appliance Center, All Home, Techbox, Robinsons Appliances, Savers Appliances, Family Appliance, Metro Department Store, Abenson, Automatic Centre, and Asian Home.
According to Araki, their installment plan appeals more to a market like the Philippines, where a good number of the population still don’t have bank accounts and have limited access to credit cards.
According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) Consumer Finance Survey 2014, 86 percent of Filipino households don’t have bank accounts.
Araki said this puts them in the best position to provide financial muscle to unbanked Filipinos because of their zero cash out, easy installment and low interest rate schemes.
“We offer the lowest interest rate in the market as of the moment,” he said.
Araki noted most of their clients come to them to seek financing for home appliance and furniture purchases. Borrowers, he added, are easily given credit approvals provided they submit all the necessary documents.
Ryan Clarin, branch manager for Cebu operations, said they offer 2.95 percent interest rate for home appliance and furniture purchases payable up to 24 months, while for mobile gadgets, they offer 3.30 percent interest payable for 18 months.
Citing the robust economic and high spending outlook of Filipinos this year, Araki said they plan to further cement their footing in the country by opening more branches in the countryside.
They plan to open in Legazpi and Tarlac as well as in Masbate, Dumaguete, Iloilo, Bacolod, Leyte, and Davao for Visayas and Mindanao areas.
u00c6ON Credit is a subsidiary of ÆON Financial Service Co., Ltd. Japan (ÆON Financial), a company listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The core business of ÆON Financial is the issuance of credit cards and prepaid cards. It has 35 million credit card holders in Japan and overseas and 41 million prepaid cardholders in Japan.