Salmon, a fresh player in the fintech industry in the Philippines, is a startup aiming to fill the current void of Filipinos’ unbanked and underbanked consumer sector by providing point-of-sale (POS) financing and consumer lending products, allowing them to defer payments.
Salmon Philippines, who introduced themselves with the tagline “Inspirational Finance” on their website, is slowly and deliberately gaining traction by strategically partnering with several local retail brands, hoping to boost their brand awareness and recognition, including the largest in the country – the SM Store.
What is Salmon.PH?
Salmon, operated by Fintech Holdings Ltd., is a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) startup registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), founded in July 2022. Though its existence is short, the company is led by fintech and banking veterans Pavel Fedorov, Raffy Montemayor, and George Chesakov.
Their goal is to provide convenient access to POS financing and lending products to the portion of Filipinos with limited access to traditional banking services by offering installment payments to increase accessibility and convenience. In layman’s terms, it’s something like Home Credit, Shopee SPayLater, and Lazada Loans. To do this, they also developed mobile apps that you can download whether you’re an Android, iOS, or Huawei user.
The future also looks bright for this startup as they have received substantial backing after their successful Series A funding round in 2022, amounting to $16 million, hoping for rapid expansion in Southeast Asia, especially the Philippines. The Series A funding was then followed by a $20 million debt facility from the emerging markets specialist investment firm Argentem Creek Partners in 2023.
READ: Understanding how buy now, pay later apps and services work
What services does Salmon.PH offer?
According to their website, Salmon offers services for both customers and merchants, which can encourage both sides of a sale to use their app and facilities.
For businesses, they offer the following:
- Flexible financing terms and high approved amounts to help grow your sales
- Fast approval in under 10 minutes
- Sales incentives
- Access to a personal merchant portal
- View Store Performance in real-time
- Develop customer insights
For customers, these are their promises:
- Easy loan repayment through e-wallets or over the counter
- Convenient purchase management for tracking due dates and making payments through their app
- More brand partners to come
Where can you use it?
Salmon is still in its early stages of growth in the country, which is why their locations, partner brands, and loan payment methods are still limited. However, it will soon unlock more partnerships as it tries to roll out fast enough to other strategic provinces and locations in the Philippines.
Some of the current partners of Salmon are:
- SM Store
- Vans Philippines
- Rulls
- ZeHelmet
- FC Home Center
- Jhunpyo Appliances Trading
- NCCC Department Store
- Home Along
Salmon Loan Payment Partners include:
- M Lhuillier Financial Services, Inc.
- SM Stores
- Union Bank of the Philippines, Inc.
- Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI)
- Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC)
- GCash
- Maya Bank
- 7-Eleven (in-person)
- Cebuana Lhuiller (in-person)
- AllBank
Please note that some of these partner retail stores are still in limited locations, so it’s best to check their official website for further information: https://salmon.ph
Salmon is one of the new players in the fintech sector that can provide an additional gateway for the unbanked and underbanked consumer sectors in the Philippines by delivering innovative banking and financial services through strategic partnerships. Hopefully, their brand expansion and recognition will quickly meet the demand.
Have you seen or used Salmon in any of your favorite retail stores? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments.