From Malls to Mobile: How Home Credit Redefined the BNPL Experience

There is no doubt that the global pandemic has accelerated digital transformation, changing our day-to-day lives. Due to current events, the digital shift that was supposed to take years happened in a blink of an eye – putting the spotlight on businesses and how they make an effort to innovate their products and services. 

For Home Credit, it did not come as a surprise since their digital efforts started years ago knowing that digitalization, especially in the financial industry, is the next big thing. Their journey started from their launching in 2013, where they already proved to be a gamechanger in the financial landscape. 

Coming from a predominantly unbanked market like ours, Home Credit came into the picture and started catering to Filipinos with little to no credit history and providing affordable installments for their gadget and electronic needs. This is what we now call as “buy now, pay later” and despite the term finding its fame during the pandemic, it’s actually a relatively old concept – and Home Credit has long been considered a pioneer and leader in this industry. 

Not only has it solidified its footprint as the country’s leading consumer finance with presence in over 9000+ stores nationwide, it has also rapidly grown its mobile presence in the recent years through the My Home Credit App in Google Play Store which now has more than 9 million app users, putting their total customer count to almost 8 million. 

As they celebrate their 8th year anniversary, their growing customer-base will continue to enjoy several of its offers through physical touchpoints at partner retail stores as well as explore contactless options through the My Home Credit App providing every need in just one place – loans, pay bills, buy load, contactless payments, shopping through partner stores, exciting discounts, and so much more.

Home Credit’s one-minute approval for loan applications is known as the fastest in the industry. Including simple requirements, interested borrowers can apply in partner retail stores all over the country. As the pandemic pushed us to convert to contactless means, Marketplace – one of the features of My Home Credit App – was introduced as the one-stop shop to browse big-ticket items, compare deals and products, and apply for loans, all within the app. Redefining the traditional way of shopping and the buy now pay later experience of Filipino consumers, they are the first consumer finance provider to offer pre-approval in the mobile app. 

Newest Home Credit app: QWARTA

Beyond offering easy installments, Home Credit now offers easy payments. With the introduction of its newest payment option Qwarta, Home Credit customers will be given as much as P10,000 additional spending limit within the app to increase their purchasing power. Qwarta can be used to pay bills without additional cost, shop or buy load with discounts, or purchase via QR Code. 

The Home Credit app now houses telco load from all networks, over 200 billers, and can also scan QR codes at 50,000+ partner brands and merchants nationwide, allowing customers to stretch their budget on countless shopping scenarios. And even better news, by using the app at selected stores, customers can enjoy up to 50% off through its SMILE discounts program. 

Home Credit’s financial literacy campaign has also evolved through the years. For the longest time, they have made it their purpose to teach the basics of budgeting and saving to ordinary Filipinos through the ‘Juan, Two, Three‘ campaign. Staying true to this mission but having in mind the effects of the pandemic, they started leveraging on digital platforms to deliver financial literacy concepts through their official website, social media and mobile app – this time with their newest program dubbed as “DigitizEd”. 

“Home Credit introduced a lot of firsts to the Philippine market, and this is a testament of how well we anticipate the needs of the consumers and continue to innovate our services and offerings to meet those demands. Having evolved over the past 8 years, we want to offer a 360° service and be your go-to partner for all your financial needs” said David Minol, Home Credit PH Chief Executive Officer (CEO).  

Celebrate with Home Credit as they turn 8 this year by keeping yourself posted on the latest announcements and special promos – one of which is the much-awaited awarding of their 8 millionth customer who will receive exciting prizes sponsored by (brand partner). For more information, visit www.homecredit.ph and follow Home Credit at www.facebook.com.homecreditph. 

Home Credit Philippines (“HCPH”) is a consumer finance provider that promotes the principles of financial inclusion and safe lending, providing world-class financing services to qualified customers, often first-time borrowers. Home Credit arrived in the Philippines back in 2013 with the ambitious goal of giving out loans to people who have never experienced them before. Within 8 years, HCPH has helped nearly 8 million customers buy the things they need through fast, convenient and affordable financing in thousands of stores around the country. In 2019, HCPH was also granted the license to operate as a credit card issuer by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), making it the first non-bank institution in the country to issue credit cards. And now, as the consumer finance landscape continues its shift to digital, HCPH has transformed into a company that is there wherever the customers are, whether they are in the store or at home on their phones. HCPH continues to expand its digital and online presence, and now has over 6 million downloads of its My Home Credit app. HCPH is part of Home Credit B.V. (HCBV), an international consumer finance provider. More information on HCPH is available at www.homecredit.ph.  

 

Home Credit N.V. (“HCNV”) is the Netherlands-based holding company for Home Credit’s global platform, which centrally manages its core strategy, technology, risk, product and funding functions while adapting to local market needs. HCBV is an emerging markets’ consumer finance specialist with operations in (1) Central & Eastern Europe including Czech Republic and Slovakia; (2) the Commonwealth of Independent States including Russia and Kazakhstan; (3) China and (4) South & South East Asia including India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Philippines.  

Founded in 1997, Home Credit focuses on responsible lending primarily to people with little or no credit history and is fully licensed to operate in its chosen markets. Home Credit drives and broadens financial inclusion by providing financing to under-serviced populations wherever and whenever they need through its omni-channel distribution network, while providing a positive and safe borrowing experience.  

HCNV has so far served over 131.6 million customers through a distribution network comprising approximately 451,882 points of sale, loan offices, branches, post offices and ATMs (as of 30 June 2019). Total consolidated assets reached EUR 26.5 billion. All figures in these Notes for Editors are as of 31 December 2019 unless otherwise stated. More information on HCNV is available at www.homecredit.net. 

The 100% owner of HCNV is Home Credit Group B.V. (‘HCGBV’). In the year 2019, HCBV transferred to HCGBV several small-sized and non-core operations, including its business in the U.S. The results in this announcement are presented as if such small-sized and non-core operations were owned by HCGBV on 1 January 2018. HCGBV is a 91.12% subsidiary of  PPF Financial Holdings B.V.  

PPF Financial Holdings is a 100% subsidiary of PPF Group N.V. (“PPF”). PPF invests into multiple market segments such as banking and financial services, telecommunications, insurance, real estate, metal mining, agriculture, retail and biotechnology. PPF's reach spans from Europe to Russia, the USA and across Asia. PPF owns assets of EUR 48.6 billion (as of 31 December 2019). More information on PPF is available at www.ppf.eu. 

A minority stake (8.88%) of Home Credit Group B.V. is held by EMMA OMEGA LTD, an investment holding company ultimately owned by Mr. Jiří Šmejc. More information on Emma Capital is available at www.emmacapital.cz.