Joint venture ups tech investments amid gov’t digital push

The government’s digital push for financial transactions has made officials of SB Finance Company Inc. (SBF) to allocate 15 percent of its additional PHP3-billion capital for technological innovations needed under the new normal.
SBF, a joint venture between Security Bank Corporation and Thailand’s Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri), obtained board approvals for the additional capital last February, and is awaiting regulatory approvals for this move.
In a virtual briefing Tuesday, SBF president and chief executive officer (CEO) Abigail Marie Casanova said consumer behavior has changed towards the more digital way since the start of the pandemic thus, the bid to heavily invest in technology.
“It is for this reason that we are prioritizing the digital and a well-thought off design for our processes,” she said.
During the same briefing, SBF chief financial officer Joy Supan said the additional capital infusion will be used for expansion, improvement of the firm’s internal capabilities, and increase the investment on technologies.
“At least for this year, we are allocating around 15 percent of that for our digital investment,” she said.
The consumer lending company currently has over 30,000 clients who are legacy clients before the joint venture with Krungsri.
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