Following its success in acquiring over 650,000 consumers, it's now time to announce MONIX’s 2023 strategy for expanding the digital lending market even further, highlighting the "F.I.R.E. Ecosystem for the Underbanked" strategy and using its FINNIX application to expand the customer base of independent professionals. In doing so, the company anticipates its loans would expand to 25 billion baht and collaborating with partners to generate approximately 30,000 jobs and additional revenue for borrowers. The company is also rolling out a "FINNIX Credit Report," a new tool to assist borrowers in understanding their own financial health and establishing credit. The tool is intended to promote fiscal responsibility among Thai citizens and contribute to the long-term goal of lowering the country's inequality gap.
Speaking about the business plan, Thiranun Arunwattanakul, Chief Operating Officer of MONIX Co., Ltd. revealed that a September 2022 report from the Bank of Thailand provided an overview of the nano-finance loan industry, indicating an outstanding balance of over 31 billion baht, an increase of nearly 50%, and a rise in the number of service providers of 13% YoY. The data is in accordance with consumer behavior adjusting to the digital environment and demonstrates the clear expansion of the market. With no proof of income necessary and reasonable interest rates, legal loan applications have become more appealing to those in need of a cash infusion as a result of the COVID situation in the economy during the past two years. These lending applications facilitate access to legitimate funding sources for those who do not have regular income documentation or for the self-employed who would otherwise have to rely on informal lending.
The overall business of MONIX in 2022 moved in tandem with the market. To assist underbanked individuals in gaining access to legitimate funding sources with effective interest as low as 2.75% per month, the company offers nano finance loans through its FINNIX application to customers with incomes of as little as 8,000 baht, including those who do not have income documents. Presently, the application has been downloaded over 8 million times. Based on in-depth interactions with FINNIX app users, we discovered that the average monthly income of FINNIX loan applicants is 10,000 baht and that more than 40% of borrowers choose pay-as-you-wish plans, which offer debt repayment flexibility based on the customer's available cash. Additionally, the in-app Star Hunt* game helps build discipline for customers, allowing them to preserve credit scores three times better than other customers, which contributes to the app's low bad debt rate.
According to Thiranun, the company has granted nano-finance loans to over 650,000 consumers for a total loan amount of 15 billion baht, representing growth rates of over 58% and 117%, respectively, compared to 2021. The success of MONIX's advanced AI and machine learning algorithms in precisely analyzing customer data is demonstrated by the fact that the bad debt rate can still be managed at a single digit level. In addition, the company was able to accomplish remarkable success with its "Let Self-employed Thrive" initiative, which engages with partners such as Lazada, Beneat, Thitaram, Daywork, and Divana to provide chances for FINNIX users around the country to create jobs and earn extra revenue. This initiative has provided additional opportunities for more than 15,000 consumers, surpassing its initial goal of 5,000, reinforcing our aim to provide greater opportunities for our customers, reduce disparity in accessing credit, and eradicate the issue of informal debt entirely.
MONIX expects its loan in 2023 would grow by 1.5 times from 2022 thanks to its strategy of establishing the F.I.R.E. Ecosystem, which will bring synergy to inclusively satisfy loan requests on digital platforms while reinforcing the brand as a strong partner that lets income earners thrive. The F.I.R.E. ecosystem features:
- F - Finance: The application will introduce new features for Quick Nano FINNIX loans and FINNIX Ignite personal loans to better meet customer needs, such as providing credit limits or charging interest according to different risk profiles based on customers’ track record. MONIX seeks to proactively double the borrower base to more than one million by targeting markets in provincial areas.
- I - Intel: The FINNIX Credit Report function, which analyzes the financial actions of customers and interprets them into scores, will be introduced in the application in order to make borrowers aware of their behavior. A comprehensive understanding of one's own behavior can assist enhance financial discipline over the long term, and AI and machine learning can be used to evaluate customer data and provide easy advice.
- R – Reward: Building on the popularity of the Star Hunting game, the FINNIX app will add new types of gamifications to motivate users to make responsible financial decisions and keep their credit in good standing by featuring rewards like higher credit limits and exclusive access to partner offers on products and services that help lower monthly outlays.
- E - Empowerment: MONIX will broaden its engagement with partners from other business lines to boost revenue for FINNIX users and so improve their financial liquidity, which in turn will enable borrowers to generate more supplementary income and acquire more marketable skills. By helping 30,000 customers find work this initiative should enhance debt repayment rates by making financial information readily accessible and simple to understand through the FINNIX app's many features.
When it debuts in 2023, the FINNIX Credit Report will be a shining new development in the legitimate digital lending industry: the provision of comprehensive reports on borrowers' financial well-being through the application of artificial intelligence. Customers' financial habits will be reflected, which will encourage them to keep their spending under control. MONIX will be the first company in Thailand to incorporate this innovation into a commercially available app. Data and consumer activities will be used to determine a customer's FINNIX points, which can be viewed on the FINNIX app. An easy-to-understand score and clear recommendations are provided in the report to assist consumers in making good changes to their financial habits. Like MONIX's goal of reducing societal financial disparity, this will assist foster long-term fiscal restraint. This useful addition will further establish the application as a tool for helping Thai people achieve financial and personal fulfilment.
MONIX has won four prestigious awards for its use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to create a FINNIX app user experience tailored to individual consumers' preferences and needs. These honors came from the Digital CX Award 2022 (for Best Fintech for Digital CX - Personal Finance), the Digital CX Award 2022 (for Best CX Business Model), the Global Retail Banking Innovation Awards 2022 (for Best AI Initiative), and the Future of Intelligence Awards (for Best in Future of Intelligence).
