Local startup Uploan PH has transformed during the pandemic and has evolved into SAVii Asia, a platform that provides loan to employees via salary deduction arrangements to over 400,000 employees and 100 plus corporate employers in the Philippines.
SAVii Asia, a startup company established in 2017, said it saw the need to provide a safe and affordable formal lending solution to employees with no prior access to formal credit .
“Employee well-being is threatened by financial demands heightened by the pandemic. We are a platform that delivers financial services to employees that other formal financial institutions are unable to service,” said Liam Grealish, CEO and Founder of SAVii.
The SAVii platform not only provides financial services, but financial education and mental health awareness training as well. Its services aim to enhance employee well-being and reduce workplace stress. Grealish explained: “This builds a resilient workforce that can maintain focus and engagement that redounds to the benefit of business.”
Grealish also described that a quiet revolution in employee behavior toward financial products has taken place beneath the surface, preferring to receive services through their employers as an employee benefit deducted from their pay rather than going directly to suppliers outside of their company. This results in a more convenient and affordable consumer experience, it said.
According to a SAVii survey of 10,000 employees, 90% of working Filipinos prefer to access financial products through salary deduction. A SAVii spokesperson further stated that when the fintech started, 40% of employees did not access financial products through salary deduction, and that number is now down to 18%.
It stated that in 2017, only 3% of all active loans in the Philippines were bank-issued. And predatory lenders within the workplace were a problem for workers as these lenders were the only available option. This caused workers more pain financially than aiding them.
The founders of SAVii Asia were moved to establish a startup to simplify salary loans and provide emergency financing services for employees who wouldn’t be eligible for bank loans.
Another problem aroused when the pandemic started in 2020, both companies and the workforce were affected with lay-offs and closures. Most employers faced the obstacle of taking exceptional care of its remaining employees that might get sick. Employees, on the other hand, had heightened financial stress since they not only had to deal with uncertainty of Covid but had to support family who had lost jobs or got ill.
With the challenge that employers and employees were experiencing, SAVii Asia expanded its service offering to support BPO companies and large enterprises, to improve employee well-being by expanding their services with Covid-19 insurance, mental health support, and more detailed financial education.
During the pandemic, SAVii has doubled its customer base to become a category leader. This brought the company closer to its goal to transform the lives of its partners’ employees by providing access to the financial power of the employees’ salary when needed. HR departments benefit from the boost to employee well-being which betters loyalty and engagement.
