“The end goal is to build out the largest digital payment network in the Philippines,” Mikko Perez of Ayannah, a startup that is focused on eliminating financial exclusion in the Philippines.
Leveraging Network Effect
Ayannah hopes to build off the collection/payments network it’s already established and bring a range of new products like JuanCredit, a risk-based credit scoring system for the unbanked, to populations that have been excluded from the traditional banking system.
The system will use deep learning to analyze Ayannah’s users’ transactions to identify potential new customers for banks, lenders and insurers. This could bring unprecedented access to financial products for millions of Filipino people who were previously excluded from the system.
In December, it raised US$1M Singapore-based fintech VC Life.SREDA, Silicon Valley VC 500 Startups, London-based fintech VC Blue Compass and other investors. In earlier rounds, it raised funds from Tokyo-based GREE Ventures, Wavemaker Labs Pte. Ltd., Golden Gate Ventures Incubator Annex Pte. Ltd., IMJ Investment Partners Pte. Ltd. and Beenos Asia.
Ayannah operates Sendah, an online gift remittance and payments platform that enables Filipinos overseas “a better way to send” products to their families in the Philippines, and SendahDirect, its payment processing platform that allows unbanked customers to perform money transfers and bill payments, or send prepaid microinsurance credits and mobile phone load credits.
Ayannah now services 10 million customers offline and digitally and has transferred US$150M in remittances, since its launch in October 2010.
Source: Forbes
