Philippines-based Uploan bags $15m debt facility for providing employee loans

Manila-based online lender Uploan has secured US$15 million in a debt facility from UK-headquartered Lendable.

Uploan, which specializes in employee loans, is Lendable’s first company in its portfolio from the Philippines.

Founded in 2017, Uploan offers cash advances, insurance products and other types of loans for employees in the Philippines. Before disbursing the loan, it sets a partnership with the borrowers’ company so that it can cut the employees’ salary for repayment.

With Lendable’s investment, Uploan plans to partner with more corporate employers so it can channel the capital to more employees.

According to the company, it has partnerships with over 100 top corporate employers in the Philippines right now. Uploan says that it can provide better underwriting and pricing, because its platform is supported by the employees’ human resources data.

Filipinos are facing unprecedented financial distress, and many of them don’t have enough money to make ends meet despite being in employment, says Uploan CEO Liam Grealish. “The debt facility we have closed with Lendable will be catalytic in enabling us to better meet the needs of our fast growing employee pool,” he adds.

The Philippine government actually implemented debt repayment moratoriums during the pandemic, and  that froze Uploan’s revenue for some time. However, the company says that it was able to grow its customer base to more than 300,000 employees during the same period.

At present, 52% of Uploan’s customers are women, which was aligned with Lendable’s mission as a firm eligible for the 2X Challenge, a program that encourages financial companies to give funding for women in developing countries.

In February, Lendable also announced a US$50 million debt facility for Amartha, a women-focused peer-to-peer lender in Indonesia.