USAID, Wing Bank, and Boost Capital launch the Micro-loan Mechanisms.
Phnom Penh, June 15, 2021. Young women entrepreneurs in Cambodia will benefit from special financial services as a result of a memorandum signed today by the USAID-funded Women Entrepreneurs Act (WE Act) implemented by PACT, Wing Bank, and Boost Capital. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) provides affordable financial services and products to increase access to finance for underserved young women entrepreneurs (YWE) in Cambodia, especially, YWE with micro and small businesses that often do not meet eligibility criteria set by formal financial service providers and have been adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. Ambassador W. Patrick Murphy,WE Act Chief of Party Ms. Sabine Joukes, Wing Bank Deputy CEO Mr. Bunthe Hor, and Boost Capital Co-founder Lucinda Revell participated in signing event.
“Cambodia’s female entrepreneurs are important players in the country’s economy,” said US Ambassador W. Patrick Murphy. “Ensuring they have all the resources they need to succeed will benefit all Cambodians by encouraging the economic growth needed to mitigate the effects of the pandemic.”
“WE Act is proud that two very different private sector partners took up the challenge to design a product specifically addressing the two main issues of accessing finance; as regular micro financial institutions (MFIs) ask for registration and collateral – leaving many women entrepreneurs without access to affordable financing. We thank BOOST and WING Bank for their willingness to partner with us to the benefit of women entrepreneurs” said Sabine Joukes, Pact Cambodia Country Director and WE Act Chief of Party.
Partnering with the two digital financial services companies, Boost and Wing Bank, to design targeted products and services, WE Act will expand opportunities for young women entrepreneurs to access affordable financial resources. The initiative will offer preferential terms on productive loans to over 500 young women entrepreneurs and provides them with ongoing financial literacy resources to enable them to manage their businesses.
USAID, Wing Bank (Cambodia) Plc, and Boost Capital (Cambodia) Ltd will launch the Micro-loan Mechanisms & the Celebration of our Private Sector Partnerships.
“Through this partnership, we will be able to offer financial assistance to women entrepreneurs across Cambodia who would otherwise be neglected, helping them to focus on growing and improving their business despite the Covid19 pandemic currently,” said Hor Bunthe, Deputy CEO of Wing Bank. “Wing Bank is committed to our vision of providing every Cambodian with convenient access to financial services relevant to their daily lives.”
“Boost and Wing Bank will offer a unique loan-services catering for young women entrepreneurs who have unregistered businesses and do not have collateral while still offering a highly competitive interest rate. Boost’s technology, deployed by the microfinance bank MIA PLC, allows female entrepreneurs to apply for a MIA loan anytime, anywhere, from their smartphone – saving both time and money and allowing these women to focus on growing their businesses, not waiting in line at the bank. Wing Bank will operate a hybrid model, offering loans through its vast agent network with nearly 10,000 agents nationwide and repayment through its digital platform, providing greater expediency and access for customers.
““These hard working female entrepreneurs want to access financing to grow their businesses. Applying for a loan from anywhere and at any time with our technology makes it easy and convenient for them to get a loan from an MFI they can trust to support their business needs. Through our MFI partners, we have already enabled over $1M in loans disbursed, and we’re excited to further support women-led businesses.” said Lucinda Revell, Co-Founder of Boost.
NOTES TO EDITORS
About USAID: USAID was founded in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy and serves as the lead agency of the U.S. Government for foreign assistance. Since 1992, USAID has invested over $1 billion toward Cambodia’s development.
About Pact: Founded in 1971, Pact strives for a world where all people are heard, capable and vibrant. Pact has empowered marginalized people in Cambodia since 1991. With partners, Pact implements the Women Entrepreneur Act (WE Act) project funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) since August 2018 to empower young women entrepreneurs to fulfill their full potential as entrepreneurs and succeed in their businesses and constructively participate in the society.
About Wing Bank: Wing Bank (Cambodia) Plc – the bank for every Cambodian – is driven by the vision to provide every Cambodian with convenient access to financial services relevant to, and for the improvement of, their daily lives. Wing Bank has revolutionised the way every Cambodian access to the financial service introducing instant, secure, and convenient mobile fund transfer on 18 August 2008.
Today, Wing Bank serves the entire Cambodian population with 100% coverage of the districts in Cambodia thanks to the innovative Wing Money App, nearly 10,000 Wing Cash Xpress agents, over 55,000 merchants, and partnerships with industry giants such as Mastercard, MoneyGram, AliPay, WeChat Pay, Western Union, Visa, and Ria. Wing Bank provides an array of advanced financial products both for individual and corporate customers. These include loans, deposits, micro savings, credit referral services, money transfers, utility and insurance payments, and even phone top-ups. In addition, Wing offers retail payments via “WingPay”, and has also introduce the “WingMall” e-commerce platform. Both small and large companies alike are now using Wing’s payroll and disbursement services, speeding up payments. Wing Bank is committed to providing financial, gender and digital inclusion to the unbanked and the under-banked, allowing every Cambodian to enjoy convenience and security when it comes to financial services.
About Boost Capital: Boost Capital uses microfinance technology that enables loans through smartphones, on customer-friendly, sustainable terms. Its technology gives customers a boost – affordable financial services with great customer experience. Boost uses innovative technology to pre-qualify customers within minutes of application for a loan based on ability and probability to repay. It enables both collateralized and uncollateralized loans, with loan size across the small business spectrum from $100 to $10,000.
For press information, please contact
Mr. Tri Leng, WE Act’s Communications Manager,
Tel: 077 66 76 76;
Email: ltri@pactworld.org
Event Information |
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| } June 15, 2021 |
| Tuesday, 11:32 pm to 11:32 pm |
| n Our Work |
Event Organizer |
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| WE Act |
