Marubeni Corporation has invested in AND Financing Corporation (“AFC”), a mobile lending company (a financial service provider using mobile apps) in the Philippines, jointly with Premium Group Co., Ltd. , an auto-mobility company. As a result of this investment, Marubeni and Premium will become the largest shareholders of AFC and AFC will become an equity method affiliate of both Marubeni and Premium from a subsidiary of AND Global Pte., a FinTech company in which Marubeni invested in December 2020.
The Philippines is one of the ASEAN countries most expected to achieve high economic growth rates in the future, given its population of over 100 million, its young average age, and its growing middle-income demographic. However, while middle-income households are expected to expand their consumption demand, the use of financial services such as bank loans and credit cards is still limited to small minority of residents.
AFC provides appropriate and unsecured loans to customers who have had difficulty using traditional financial services through its AI-based credit decision making system. Since AFC enables its customers to complete the entire process online, from application to screening and conclusion of contracts, through a smartphone application, consumers can smoothly and conveniently use the financial service. In addition, by leveraging Marubeni’s affiliate company AND Global’s FinTech solutions (mainly AI-based support systems for financial businesses) and Premium’s expertise in financial services for individuals, AFC will build a data-driven business model and promote the optimization and DX-oriented loan management processes.
Through this investment, Marubeni will aim to grow AFC and contribute to the Philippines’ economic development by supporting increased financial inclusion and expanded consumer spending through managing the know-how and network it has accumulated in the Philippines.
The actual investment will be made by Premium Corporation, a wholly-owned consolidated subsidiary of Premium.