TALINO VENTURE STUDIOS, a venture studio for financial technology (fintech), announced on Tuesday a $5-million investment from global sustainable development consultancy Chemonics International.
Closing the financial inclusion gap in the Philippines requires inclusive and scalable technology solutions, said Jamey Butcher, Chemonics president and chief executive officer, in an e-mailed press release to reporters.
“We can create groundbreaking, scalable solutions with the potential to help millions,” Mr. Butcher said on combining Talino’s record of developing “high-impact” technology and Chemonics’ access to global expertise.
Based on the 2021 Global Findex Database, more than half (51%) of Filipino adults had accounts with banks or mobile money services, an increase from 34% in 2017.
The Philippine government aims to increase the proportion of Filipinos with bank or financial services accounts to 70% by 2024.
Winston L. Damarillo, chief executive officer of Talino Venture Studios, noted sustainable innovation as a driver for fulfilling the inclusive fintech goals of the partnership among the local unbanked citizens and other low-income economies.
“We want to replicate the innovation we started here in the Philippines to the world, where Chemonics has presence in 98 countries,” Mr. Damarillo told BusinessWorld in a phone message.
Talino has helped build fintech companies such as BayaniPay, a neobank serving the Filipino-American community in the United States; Asenso, which caters loans and tailored funding of small businesses; Earnie, which manages the payments and invoicing of Filipino freelancers with US employers; and Saphron, which uses artificial intelligence to provide microinsurance for small businesses.
“While Talino’s ventures are built on Filipino innovation, our partnership with Chemonics enables us to go beyond the Filipino diaspora and make a positive impact on the lives of many more people,” Mr. Damarillo said on further expanding financial inclusion. — Miguel Hanz L. Antivola