WiLoan, a fully digital micro-loan service, wants to help the unbanked and underbanked by expanding its services.
As the name suggests, WiLoan is a money lending service that requires no already-established bank account for all-digital transactions.
WiLoan, developed by WiPay, is designed to offer salaried workers in the Caribbean quick, convenient access to short-term credit.
A National Financial Inclusion Survey Report done by the Trinidad and Tobago International Financial Centre in 2023 found that around 25% of the population lacked access to formal financial accounts, citing barriers such as insufficient funds, lack of necessary documentation and perceived high costs.
It also found that while 75% of the population engages in saving, 82% of these individuals prefer to save money at home rather than in financial institutions.
The report also stated that within the business sector, around 77% of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) lacked a dedicated business bank account, and 86% relied exclusively on cash transactions, limiting their growth and access to broader markets.
These findings highlighted the need for targeted financial education and the development of accessible financial products to bridge the gap for the unbanked and underbanked populations in T&T.
WiLoan officially expanded its service on March 20 at The BRIX, Autograph Collection hotel in Cascade.
It was officially launched on December 1, 2020, as a pilot project in partnership with the National Trade Union Centre (NATUC). This initial phase targeted NATUC’s 60,000 members, offering unsecured personal loans with interest rates between 2% and 2.75%, depending on the repayment period.
Chief executive officer of WiLoan Lyron Marlow, in an interview after the launch, said: “This product is really designed for the man on the street, people who have had some challenges with the banks to get loans and financing needs.”
Loans start from $1,000 up to $50,000 and anything beyond that would require a different type of assistance.
“The app is set up where we use AI (artificial intelligence) to help us review and advise the risk of each applicant and then make informed decisions,” said Marlow.
He assured that the system had strong cybersecurity measures given that the entire process for users is completely online.
“Our developers are very experienced and we have a very strong team of people that manage compliance and cyberscience. What I can say is that everyone’s data is safe and secure because as I said, the app would have initially been going through quite a couple of testing and phases since 2021,” he said.
Marlow continued: “In terms of fraud, we have a team that does validations of all information that we provide in conjunction with AI that we have on the back. In a nutshell, everything is really secure in terms of quality checks and we are comfortable in terms of assessments.”
Asked about the feedback on the app so far, he said after some testing and a few tweaks, he and the team were comfortable with the state of the app. He said he was looking to expand the WiLoan product to other countries in the region.
Chairman of WiLoan Ashley Taylor gave a history of the app and said it was created out of an idea in 2021 after Covid-19 left some without jobs and financially unstable.
“We understood there was a lending ecosystem and we realised that people had challenges getting loans quickly and easily. Based on that we did a pilot programme where we partnered with NATUC and the response was so overwhelming that we realised this is really a big issue and underserved market,” said Taylor.
Rigorous checks
WiLoan is a product of WiPay which is a digital payment platform founded in T&T and enables individuals and businesses to send, receive, and process payments online and via mobile devices.
WiPay is used in countries such as Jamaica, Barbados and Guyana.
Chief operating officer John Mollenthiel explained that applicants’ information is checked rigorously before they are accepted for the service.
“Once you’ve signed on to that digital platform and you upload your proof of life, you never have to come and see me, you can do this on your phone. Aside from proof of life, you need proof of address, ID, simple things and we are going to check you out. We are going to run your name through a couple of popular checklists, there are basically 1,200 different watchlists and sanctions that we run you through,” he said during the launch.
He added that the money can be moved to and from any local bank account or even an individual’s card.
“If you’re talking about inclusion, having a bank account is not a requirement,” Mollenthiel emphasised.
In addition to WiLoan, WiPay launched the Colour App in 2023 to reduce the reliance on cash and make products more accessible to everyone.
The Colour App allows anyone to give and receive money without having to input a ten-digit bank account number.
