LANDBANK introduces mobile lending for medicines

Eden Estopace
03 Nov 2016
00:00

The Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) has introduced a new mobile lending program for the purchase of essential drugs.

LANDBANK, a government financial institution, has teamed up with branded generic drugs company RiteMed to expand the use of its electronic salary loans program.

The LANDBANK Mobile Loan Saver (LMLS) launched in September 2014 and has since gained a large following among government employees, farmers and fishers, small and medium enterprises, overseas Filipinos and private sector employees.

Under LMLS, customers can easily apply for a loan using their mobile phone and get quick credit decision from LANDBANK regarding their application. As of August 2016, total loans released under LMLS amounted to over 12 billion pesos.

The RiteMed partnership will allow loan borrowers to allocate a portion of their approved net loan proceeds for the purchase of medicines. RiteMed will also make available a range of maintenance medicines at discounted prices.

Medicines ordered via LMLS will be delivered for free in sealed packs to the concerned government agency or company office where the borrower is employed, within a week from the time of loan approval and release.

“We understand the financial burden of high medicine costs on many Filipinos, which is why through this initiative, we hope to provide LMLS borrowers with access to affordable and quality medicines. This is yet another showcase of the endless possibilities in terms of financial technology and digital lending, especially as we hope to reach out and provide financial and other services to more Filipinos across the country,” said LANDBANK Officer-in-Charge and Executive Vice President Cecilia C. Borromeo.

Started as an initiative in response to the Philippine government’s call for private companies to reduce the prices of essential drugs, RiteMed started manufacturing and marketing 20 off-patent, low-cost essential drugs that were 20% to 70% cheaper than their equivalent counterparts in 2002.

Today, its product has grown to include almost 200 medicines for diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, infection, pain, kidney, gastro-intestinal, asthma and allergy, cough and colds and vitamins.

Vincent Patrick Guerrero, general manager of RiteMed, said in a media statement that the company is optimistic that with the technology behind LMLS and the nationwide network of LANDBANK, they would be able to fulfill the objective of RiteMed to provide access to quality healthcare for all Filipinos.

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