BPI Globe BanKO to lend $21.67bln for microfinance

Venture resulting from partnership of BPI and Globe Telecom aims to maximise lender’s wholesale microfinance portfolio.

BPI and Globe moved to further fulfill the needs of microfinance industry in the Philippines by putting up a new venture, BPI Globe BanKO, a mobile savings bank with plans to lend out P1 billion ($21.67 billion) in microfinancing over the next two years.

The firm will have an authorised capital of P500 million ($10.83 million) of which P350 million ($7.61 million) is paid up. They can lend up to 75 percent of their paid up capital plus money from bank deposits, BPI Globe BanKO president Teresita Tan said in a report in Manila Bulletin.

BPI Globe BanKO will absorb and expand the wholesale microfinance portfolio of BPI. With BPI Globe BanKO, the three companies aim to reach out to the untapped microfinance market in the country by providing microfinance institutions (MFIs) much needed funding and development programs.

She added that BPI Globe BanKO will work hand-in-hand with MFIs to service the entrepreneurial poor even at the base of the economic pyramid.