The Philippines’ Social Security System (SSS) is teaming up with local digital lender UnionDigital Bank to launch a micro loan programme for small firms, including those owned by members of the pension fund.
According to Kimberly Dy-Tenchavez, head of brand for UnionDigital, the scheme is a response to the “persistent challenge of micro, small and medium enterprises in gaining access to capital”.
“The micro loan programme will be launched very, very soon…within this year,” she said at a press conference on July 17
She said the scheme will be fully digital, from application right through to loan disbursement.
Data from the website of the Philippine central bank shows that micro, small and medium enterprise loans accounted for only 4.73% of the banking system’s 12.14 trillion peso (US$203.3 billion) loan portfolio.
The share is far lower than in other Southeast Asian nations. In Thailand, for example, the share is 22%, Indonesia, 21% and Malaysia, 16%, according to figures from the ASEAN Finance Cooperation’s website.
The SSS manages retirement savings of private sector employees and the self-employed and provides them social security protection, with 1.26 trillion pesos of assets under management as of end-2025.
