Tala marked a new phase of growth with the announcement of its expansion in Latin America that started with the launch of its services in Guatemala. Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, it continues to serve the global majority, or the portion of the world’s population that has historically been excluded from accessing financial services, across three continents.
Leveraging AI to deliver financial services to customers here and around the world, the company’s proprietary software, Tala in a Box, now allows for rapid geographic expansion. This enables Tala to scale its platform across new markets simultaneously, fulfilling its mission to address insufficient access to essential financial products like credit among the global majority.
“This marks the start of Tala’s next chapter, grounded in the belief that potential exists everywhere and that technology and data can unlock immense value for underserved people and markets,” said Shivani Siroya, CEO & Founder of Tala. “Over the past few years, starting in 2020, we’ve built a next-generation data engine and proprietary software platform that takes full advantage of Tala’s data moat—billions of data points from a decade of customer relationships across multiple geographies.”
Championing Credit Access and Financial Literacy for Filipinos
Considered as one of its key markets, Tala’s presence continues to grow in the Philippines, where it has over 4 million customers. It has disbursed more than 26 million loans totaling around Php 129 billion since entering the country in 2017.
While this growth can be attributed to Filipinos becoming more open to using credit, it is also anchored on the increasing positive perception of customers of the impact of financial services on their day-to-day lives. Tala’s latest Impact Report has revealed that 91% of borrowers in the Philippines felt improvement in their quality of life due to their digital loan, particularly when it comes to affording household expenses and bills, accessing finance, and reducing stress over money.
Beyond credit, Tala actively promotes financial literacy through the TALAkayan with Salve Ibañez workshop series and digital content series. Over 1,200 participants across 14 workshop sessions have learned basic financial concepts such as saving, budgeting and investing, and been equipped with knowledge of online credit.
Furthering its commitment, Tala Philippines also partnered with nonprofit organization Project PEARLS to conduct an outreach, financial education, and scholarship program in Tondo, Manila, raising further awareness on the importance of financial literacy for the global majority while supporting the needs of partner communities.
“As Tala continues to expand in the Philippines, we are focused on leveraging our technology and products to meet the diverse needs of our customer base in the Philippines, empowering them to grow and achieve their goals through increased access to credit and financial education. All these are aligned with our mission to bridge the financial inclusion gaps in the country,” said Moritz Gastl, General Manager of Tala Philippines.
About Tala
Tala is a global financial infrastructure company building the world’s most accessible financial services. Their financial services provide customers with flexible, convenient, online credit to help support the unbanked and underserved population. Tala has delivered 7 billion USD in credit to more than 12 million people across three continents. Customers have used Tala products to start and expand small businesses, manage day-to-day needs, and pursue their financial goals with confidence. Start your journey into financial freedom: https://tala.ph/borrow/.