The Philippine Bank of Communications (PBCOM) has signed a ₱500 million credit facility with Billease, becoming the latest Philippine bank to fund the consumer finance platform’s lending book.

PBCOM Joins RCBC and PNB as Billease’s Local Funding Base Grows

PBCOM joins Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) and Philippine National Bank (PNB) among the banks funding Billease, continuing a run of local bank facilities the company has signed this year. The agreement was signed in Manila by Georg Steiger, co-founder and CEO of Billease, and John Cary Ong, President and CEO of PBCOM.

Billease, one of the Philippines’ leading consumer finance and buy-now-pay-later platforms, said the facility is secured by a pool of its consumer loans registered through the Philippines’ Personal Property Security Registry. As with its RCBC and PNB facilities, the pool is over-collateralised and kept topped up with performing loans, giving PBCOM a first-ranking claim over a diversified portfolio rather than exposure to a handful of large borrowers.

Making Retail Credit Bankable

Founded in 1939, PBCOM is one of the Philippines’ longest-standing banks and today operates as a universal bank. Retail consumer credit is hard for a bank to reach directly at scale, since it typically means millions of small, short-term loans to borrowers who are often new to credit. Billease turns that into an exposure a bank can underwrite.

“A few years ago, banks and fintech lenders were mostly seen as competitors. That is changing. Banks have the capital and want retail exposure, and we have the origination, underwriting and collections to deploy it responsibly. What lets a bank say yes is evidence. We now have several years of audited results and loan performance that a bank can test for itself. PBCOM did that work, and we are glad to have them with us,” said Garret Go, Chief Financial Officer of Billease.

“For more than eight decades, PBCOM has grown alongside Filipino businesses and households. This facility enables us to extend our support to the unbanked or underbanked Filipino consumers in a prudent and sound manner, by working with a trusted partner with a strong track record and a good reputation,” said John Cary Ong, President and CEO of PBCOM.

Billease’s Balance Sheet Behind the Growth

Local bank debt has become an increasingly important part of Billease’s funding strategy, providing peso-denominated funding to support its peso loan portfolio. In FY2025, Billease grew revenue by more than 80% to ₱8.7 billion, generated EBITDA of approximately ₱1.2 billion, and delivered a net profit of ₱782 million — its third consecutive year of profitability. Its gross loan book grew by more than 77% to approximately ₱12.5 billion. As of 31 December 2025, the company held total equity of approximately ₱6.4 billion against total borrowings of ₱7.1 billion, a debt-to-equity ratio of roughly 1:1.

The funding also reaches the businesses Billease works with. Through Billease Deals, now also open on the web at deals.billease.ph, merchants can sell to pre-approved Billease customers with no platform commissions, listing charges or payment mark-ups, letting sellers offer zero-interest instalments while customers pay over time using their existing credit limit.

“Each bank that comes on board makes our funding broader and more resilient. It also says something about where the market is going: established Philippine banks are ready to fund consumer lending when it is done with discipline and transparency. In a tougher economy, that funding goes straight back to Filipino households and the local businesses they buy from,” said Georg Steiger, co-founder and CEO of Billease.