TO MAKE loans even more accessible, a lending company has taken its services online.
Lenddo, a microfinance social networking firm, is a startup company that provides its clients with easy access to loans through its website, lenddo.com.ph.
It was founded by Jeff Stewart and Richard Eldridge in 2011 “to help the emerging middle class use their social connections in building their creditworthiness and access to local financial services.”
Lenddo Philippines director for sales and marketing Erika Aquino said the accessibility of loans depends on a person’s creditworthiness and they determine it by the social networks an applicant is using.
Aquino said that before Lenddo members are granted loans, they need to connect their system to their active Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Yahoo, or Gmail account.
She said the company’s data scientists will work on an algorithm to determine a person’s creditworthiness and will assign each member a credit score or a “LenddoScore.”
Aquino said the score will depend on how often the borrower uses his social network account. The people connected to the member can also affect his ratings as they will also vouch on the person’s credibility.
Moreover, she said the member’s behavior on the Lenddo system will also affect his LenddoScore and those of his connections.
“If (the borrower) pays back the loans on time, the LenddoScore and the LenddoScore of the trusted connections go up. Likewise, if you don’t pay your debts on time, your LenddoScore and the LenddoScore of your trusted connections go down,” Aquino explained.
Once the borrower has met all the needed requirements, Aquino said Lenddo will approve the application and will provide the cash straight to the person’s account within one business day.
At present, Lenddo Philippines has processed over 20,000 loans since it started, ranging from P2,500 to P49,000 for education, medical emergencies, home improvement and career-based relocation.
It offers a monthly interest rates ranging from .99 percent to 2.99 percent.
Aquino said that after Manila, Cebu is the second biggest market for Lenddo in the Philippines.
Lenddo has also established its presence in Mexico this year and Colombia in 2012.
Aquino said the company is planning to expand very soon to other Asian countries.
Source: Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on August 30, 2013.