Venio, the mobile application providing “nano-credit” facilities to unbanked consumers in emerging markets accessed via a smartphone, has expanded its services nationwide across the Philippines on the back of successful metro launches across Mega Manila, Cebu and Davao.
Venio has also continued its Local Convenience Store and Merchant acquisitions into six new municipalities within the capital Metro Manila, bringing the app to full nationwide availability and increasing local neighborhood store access across Manila.
Following a successful initial roll out with over 30,000 downloads, Venio has proven its core business model across its test markets and is now ramping up its availability across the Philippines with new international markets planned. Venio is expanding its reach via its redemption network of retail partners.
Venio app users will now be able to redeem credit facilities at stores and merchants across the country, as well as local store access within the most populous municipalities in Metro Manila. This is in line with Venio’s strategy to pinpoint the most crucial regions of the Philippines.
The expansion follows a steady increase in customer acquisition and the recruitment of additional partners to Venio’s extensive retail network. These include the Philippines’ Sari-Sari stores that are a central part of retail and local community life in the country along with the international retailers such as Grab and McDonalds to name a few of the merchants and brands that Venio customers can access via the Company’s App.
Venio’s strong growth has been supported by recent trends in the wake of the pandemic which has fast-tracked digitisation and the adoption of mobile payments as attitudes towards physical cash handling change. Venio has also iterated its product offering to accommodate the accelerated demand for airtime purchases and local transportation costs as a result of shifting customer behaviour.
Venio is driving financial inclusion and creating positive social impact in the Philippines, the nationwide expansion will allow the Company to introduce access to credit and financial support to communities that have been underserved by traditional financial institutions. In recent months there has been an increased demand for small lines of credit among the financially excluded.
By increasing partnerships with retailers and ‘mom and pop’ Sari-Sari convenience stores Venio is better able to reach these unbanked groups. Venio’s “nano-credit” offering remains unique in the market as it enables users to access small loans starting at $1 and up to $5. This not only grants the unbanked consumer access to services that would otherwise be unavailable to them but also opens a gateway to more advanced forms of financial support, especially for those building a credit profile for the first time.
The nationwide expansion in the Philippines shows that Venio’s proprietary technology is fully scalable. Based on the positive response in the Philippines market Venio is preparing to grow internationally in target high growth emerging markets in Asia and Latin America.
Warren Platt, Founder & CEO at Venio commented: “Venio has successfully completed its launch and proven the business model. Our product has resonated with customers with acquisition rates that are performing above expected levels and our geographical expansion is in response to this demand. We are proud of the positive response from our customers and of the positive impact we have been able to make in the lives of many unbanked individuals. The fact that Venio is expanding its footprint means vital credit facilities are now available to more of the unbanked in Filipino society, reducing financial exclusion. We are now preparing to scale further and look forward to further positively impacting our user base in the Philippines and towards taking Venio into other new international emerging markets.”
