ASX listed fintech, Peppermint Innovation, has signed a potentially transformational service provider agreement with the largest cooperative federation in the Philippines.
The deal brings more than one million potential Filipino customers into play for the Perth based financial payments APP provider.
In a recent market update, Peppermint said it will develop a mobile financial services app and web tool for “MASS-SPECC”, the oldest cooperative federation in the Philippines, encompassing more than 300 affiliated cooperatives and one million individual members.
MASS-SPECC is shorthand for the Mindanao Alliance of Self-Help Societies -Southern Philippines Educational Cooperative Centre,
Peppermint said the app, to be known as the ‘Peppermint Conditional Cash Transfer Management System’, will assist MASS-SPECC to manage funds for the Philippine Government’s Conditional Cash Transfer program, or CCT, that provides financial support to poor Filipino families in order to assist them to pay for vital health and educational requirements.
In the market update the company said: “Peppermint will then aim to integrate added functionality into the app to provide mobile financial services for MASS-SPECC, its members and other partners in the underserved Mindanao region.”
MASS-SPECC owns assets worth an estimated AU$1.73 billion and provides financial services, capacity building programs, consultancy services, training, IT services and agri-based enterprise programs to stimulate growth and create quality of life for its members.
Peppermint said the deal dovetails perfectly with its business objective to create financial inclusion for the Filipino people by enabling cash payments using their mobile phones – particularly for those that still don’t operate a bank account. In a country of 103 million people, only about 30% of Filipinos operate a bank account. Tens of millions of people in the Philippines receive weekly wages in cash and are accustomed to paying their bills in person using cash.
Peppermint Management said, “….the solution can be used by MASS-SPECC to manage other projects which involves disbursement of other types of government or private-sourced funding or loans.”
Managing Director and CEO, Chris Kain, added: “The CCT management system will improve MASS-SPECC’s current process of disbursement by providing tellers with an android application that is installed on their devices to allow them to identify the beneficiaries of the cash transfer.”
“MASS-SPECC emphasised they wanted to work with Peppermint because of our alignment in attaining financial inclusion for the unbanked Filipino customers. And we wanted to work with MASS-SPECC to take services to the large underserved population in the southern island region of Mindanao.”
“Equally important, MASS-SPECC regard Peppermint as not just a ‘developer’ or ‘service provider’ but a strategic partner who can integrate regulatory compliance and development that is supportive of their long-term growth and expansion.”
Peppermint’s share price has soared 27% in nine days and was trading at 2.3cents on Friday. This followed a flurry of activity in the past week culminating in an exclusive option agreement for Peppermint to acquire remittance business RemitWisely, a company which provides money transfer services to 200 countries.
Peppermint’s MASS-SPECC deal is a perfect fit for the company who is all about providing mobile banking services to the unbanked community.
Given that MASS-SPECC’S client base sits at the lower end of the socio-economic curve, it represents almost the perfect incubator for potential Peppermint customers.
By Matt Birney
