Manila, Philippines – GCash, the mobile wallet operated by Mynt, has entered into a joint mandate with agri-technology firm Mayani to create an agri-credit movement that aims to bank the rural unbanked.
The joint mandate aims to bridge the Philippines’ $6b agri-credit gap that prevents the sector from receiving adequate financing and reaching its potential peak.
In this partnership, GCash will leverage Mayani’s supply chain data to underwrite and jointly facilitate loans for organised farmers and fisherfolk needing a production lifeline, providing them with quality inputs, boosting their yield, and enhancing their capability to meet market demand while building their credit track record.
Mayani has a grassroots network of over 144,000 organised small farmers and fisherfolk across seven regions of the Philippines. Its digital agri-fisheries ecosystem currently operates three value-creation lines, which include Mayani Farm Direct for market linkage, Mayani Agri-Inputs for seeds, feeds, and fertiliser distribution, and Mayani Fin-Assist for production financing.
Mayani is also looking into integrating its end-to-end proprietary tech stack with GCash’s index on their lending balance sheet, quantum reach, and loan approval to e-wallet disbursement infrastructure.
For the pilot roll-out of this new service, the borrowers will come from agricultural cooperatives and associations in Batangas Province, which is one of Mayani’s rural strongholds.
A production credit will be offered against concrete purchase orders from Mayani. It will be linked to its downstream commercial portfolio, along with the small farmers and fishermen who will avail their agricultural inputs like seeds and feeds to mitigate credit risk.
Tony Isidro, president and CEO at Fuse Lending, said, “By leveraging on modern technology’s financial transformation, agriculture, which is one of the most important industries of our nation, can experience rapid growth and sustainability. We are honoured to have Mayani onboard as one of our key partners as we continue introducing innovations that will help connect farmers with finance and enhance the power of financial inclusion in the Philippines.”
JT Solis, co-founder and CEO of Mayani, also shared, “We’ve always held the belief that financial rails for the agri-fisheries sector are best built on top of existing market rails for our smallholder farmers and fisherfolks. This partnership with GCash and Fuse accelerates our agri-fintech aspiration of cultivating grassroots financial inclusion, particularly for a sector that got left behind in terms of access to much-needed credit. By situating any loan transaction within a trade and supply chain context, I think we are able to finally crack the code towards making our farmers and fisherfolks bankable, credit-worthy, and financially empowered.”
