Online lending and microfinance have become a multipurpose solution for customers in Asia. These are the findings of an online survey conducted by Robocash Group in the region earlier this year. Remarkably, men and women apply with different needs in mind. However, the online segment was in priority for 45% of all respondents in the Philippines.
In 2019, the most common reason to apply for a loan among Filipino women was the need to pay for education or medical services. The share of female respondents who put it first amounted to 41%. The second and third places belong to expenditures on children and payment of bills, each taking 24% of responses. Another 20% of women used loans also to buy essentials such as food and other small items. According to analysts, it is quite common for women in the Philippines to take care of housekeeping and family budget. Moreover, the study Digital 2020 reveals that 12% of women in the Philippines made online transactions last year against 8% of men.
As for men, they highlighted other reasons. The highest share of responses belongs to the purchase of household appliances and electronics and other durable goods (22%). Then business needs associated with its setting up or development take second place (21%). Education and medical services follow with 14% of responses.
Overall, as the results of the survey also conducted in Indonesia, Vietnam and India show, education and medical services, purchase of electronics and household appliances, and business needs make up the three most common groups of responses.
Remarkably, men took loans to pay for prestigious items more often than women did – 13% and 6%, respectively. A significant share within it belongs to the purchase of smartphones driving the growth of the Internet economy in developing Asian countries. Besides, men often buy gadgets and other goods in this category, such as jewellery and fashionable clothes, for their family members too.The least common reasons among Asian women were big purchases such as real estate or vehicles (3%), expenditures on events (3%), small impulse buys (3%), and vacations (1%). Expenses on special occasions turned out to be a male prerogative: 10% took loans to afford vacations, 9% other events.
According to analysts, the outbreak of Covid-19 has undoubtedly affected the purpose of loans and brought essential needs to the forefront. As soon as countries remove restrictions, customers will also gradually recover their consumption activity. Meantime, social distancing has highlighted the significance of the online segment too. It allows the industry to expect an increase in the share of customers who prefer online services from the current rate of 57% across the region.
ABOUT:Robocash Group is an international financial group operating in the segments of consumer alternative lending and marketplace funding in Europe and Asia. The company develops robotic financial services providing micro consumer lending to customers in Russia, Kazakhstan, Spain, Indonesia, Vietnam and India and operates its own EU-based P2P investment platform. The group develops products completely in-house using artificial intelligence, machine learning and data-driven technologies to provide precise and comprehensive risk management, comfort and speed for customers and efficiency for business.
