PHILIPPINE fintech lender Billease is strengthening its reliance on local bank financing as it expands its consumer lending business, doubling its credit facility with Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) to P1 billion.
The expanded facility, which is twice the P500 million initially secured from RCBC a year ago, is part of Billease’s strategy to increasingly fund its growth through Philippine banking partners and reduce its historical reliance on offshore debt.
The partnership has also broadened beyond traditional term lending to include corporate cash management, savings, and foreign exchange (FX) services.
Billease Chief Financial Officer Garret Go said the larger local facility would help support its continued growth while optimizing its overall cost of capital.
"Doubling our facility with RCBC within a year and broadening it well beyond lending into cash management and FX reflects the kind of confidence that only comes from a track record both sides can underwrite," Go said.
"RCBC has been an excellent partner in structuring something new for this market,” he added.
Billease recorded an audited consolidated revenue increasing by more than 80 percent to P8.7 billion last year. The company also posted a net profit of P750 million, its third consecutive year of profitability.
Its loan portfolio expanded by more than 75 percent to approximately P11.3 billion during the period, while total assets reached P13.3 billion.
Billease said the performance demonstrated its ability to scale its consumer finance business while maintaining profitability and underwriting standards.
“We don’t view 2025 as a peak, we view it as evidence that the platform works, and that there is significant underlying demand for affordable, well-structured credit in this country,” Billease CEO and co-founder Georg Steiger said.
“The business scales without compromising on underwriting standards. Facilities like this one let us keep funding that growth locally, on improving terms,” he added.
The increased RCBC facility is also notable for the way the consumer loan receivables are being used as security for the financing.
The facility uses the Philippines’ Personal Property Security Registry (PPSR), a centralized registry for security interests in movable property, to register and perfect RCBC’s security interest over Billease’s consumer loan receivables.
The structure includes an over-collateralized loan-to-value arrangement, periodic refreshing of the collateral pool, and a defined payment waterfall.
These mechanisms are designed to give RCBC a registered and enforceable claim over the pool of consumer loan receivables backing the facility.
For Billease, the arrangement provides access to additional domestic funding while giving the bank greater protection against the risks associated with lending to a fast-growing fintech company.
“The RCBC facility advances Billease’s core strategy of increasingly funding its growth through local banking partners, reducing its historical reliance on offshore debt, and optimizing its overall cost of capital,” Billease said.
“The move complements Billease’s strategic entry into regulated banking following its recent acquisition of a rural bank, which is expected to expand the platform's deposit-taking capabilities and product suite,” it added.
As of end-2025, the company had approximately P5.6 billion in total equity against P6.7 billion in total borrowings, resulting in a debt-to-equity ratio of roughly 1x.
The company said this provides significant headroom for additional well-secured debt as it continues to expand.
