Smile API Weblog

Manila, Philippines – The Smile API Podcast, hosted by Smile's CEO Jerome Eger, is excited to announce a new episode featuring Xavier Peh, a seasoned professional with over a decade of experience in regional payments, technology, and financial services. Xavier Peh's career spans reputable companies such as Visa, Grab, Binance, and his current position as a key member of the card payments commercial team at Atome, based in Singapore. Xavier Peh's diverse background in the fintech sector raises the question: What does it take to be a successful Business Development (BD) manager in the dynamic fintech industry? In this episode, Xavier shares his insights and experiences that have contributed to his success as a BD manager. Atome, an emerging leader in the Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) space, is at the forefront of innovation and customization in the financial services sector. During the podcast, Xavier discusses Atome's use of artificial intelligence (AI) to transform and tailor financial services for the benefit of its customers. He also talks about how the BNPL model offered by Atome caters to the evolving needs of consumers, highlighting the contrast with traditional credit models in an ever-changing financial landscape. In the rapidly evolving fintech industry, maintaining a competitive edge is essential. Xavier sheds light on the strategies employed by Atome to ensure they remain at the forefront of the market. These insights are sure to inspire and guide aspiring fintech companies. One of Atome's notable achievements is its ability to operate successfully in diverse markets. Xavier provides valuable insights into how the company tailors its strategies to promote financial inclusion and improve financial literacy in these distinct regions. He also shares a compelling success story of Atome's contribution to enhancing financial inclusion. Balancing the convenience of credit accessibility with responsible spending is a critical concern in the fintech industry. Xavier shares how Atome navigates this challenge, ensuring that financial services are accessible without compromising consumer financial well-being. The podcast also discusses Atome's credit risk assessment process, how it varies across different regions, and the role of employment data in ensuring reliable and secure credit assessments. In the context of a rapidly changing regulatory landscape, Xavier talks about the challenges that Atome has faced and how the company has successfully navigated regulatory complexities in different countries. Additionally, he provides insights into Atome's vision for the future of fintech, offering a glimpse into how the company plans to contribute to the industry's evolution over the next five years. The Smile API Podcast is thrilled to bring these intriguing discussions to its listeners, offering an opportunity to gain insight into the world of fintech, BNPL, AI, and financial inclusion from a distinguished expert like Xavier Peh. Listeners can tune in to this episode through Smile's Facebook, YouTube, and Spotify pages. ### About Smile API Smile API is a platform that offers user-authorized access to recent, comprehensive, and verified employment data, all with a user's consent. With Smile, information is readily accessible in real-time, consolidating data from various sources through a single API.  About Atome Atome is Southeast Asia's leading digital consumer fin

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The Smile API Podcast recently had the pleasure of hosting Ian Madrid, founder of Spay Madrid, as he shared his inspiring journey from civil engineering to launching one of the largest collection companies in the Philippines. The podcast, hosted by our CEO Jerome Eger, dived deep into Madrid's philosophy of luck, humility, and a strong family foundation that underpins his business success. Despite facing significant challenges in the initial years, where the company was barely breaking even, Madrid's unwavering belief in prioritizing employees has played a key role in their turnaround. During the podcast, Madrid and Eger delved into these initial struggles, the firm's decision-making process, and the importance of open communication within the organization. Madrid firmly believes that SP Madrid's success is a testament to the company's commitment to human capital and the cultivation of a familial culture amongst its employees. Stay tuned on Spotify for more engaging content in Episode 5 #TheSmileAPIPodcast! About Smile API Smile API provides employment data across different employment platforms and employers, all through a single API for credit decisions and loan underwriting. With Smile API, lenders can make better decisions, increase adoption and conversion, reduce cost, and lower risk. About SP Madrid SP Madrid is #1 in Banking Collections Specializes in litigation, whether criminal, administrative or civil Gives on-going counseling and monitoring of client activities, business movements, opportunities and business expansion, international affiliation, contract preparation, and other relevant matters.

Metro Manila, Philippines - The gig economy in the Philippines is on the rise, and with it, the need for affordable healthcare and benefits for freelancers and gig workers. In the latest episode of #TheSmileAPIPodcast, Jem Chua, the Head of Operations for MetaCare, shares how her company is aggregating gig economy workers and freelancers to provide them with affordable healthcare and benefits. MetaCare is an all-in-one marketplace that offers cost-effective, convenient, and comprehensive access to health and benefits to every Filipino. With over six years of experience in the industry, Chua aims to leverage technology to make health and wellness accessible to everyone. In episode 4 of #TheSmileAPIPodcast, Chua discusses the healthcare industry in the Philippines and the financial needs of gig workers. She shares her expertise on how MetaCare is providing affordable solutions to address the healthcare needs of gig workers. Listeners can follow #TheSmileAPIPodcast on Spotify to never miss an episode. Episode 4 will be available on Spotify and YouTube on April 28, 2023. Share this episode with someone who could benefit from the insights and perspectives that Jem Chua and Jerome Eger will share. About Smile API Smile API provides employment data across different employment platforms and employers, all through a single API for credit decisions and loan underwriting. With Smile API, lenders can make better decisions, increase adoption and conversion, reduce cost, and lower risk. About MetaCare MetaCare is an all-in-one marketplace where you can enjoy savings on health, wellness, and lifestyle products. Our aim is to provide cost-effective, convenient, and comprehensive access to health and benefits to every Filipino.

On March 23, 3 PM, Smile API will release the third episode of their podcast series, #TheSmileAPIPodcast. In this episode, Jerome Eger, CEO of Smile API, talks to Jove Tapiador, the President of Rural Bank of Silay City and Co-founder of GoodTech, about the challenges and opportunities facing the Fintech industry in the Philippines. The podcast explores the latest trends and innovations in Fintech that can benefit Filipinos, from alternative data to open finance. Jove Tapiador shares his insights on the challenges facing the Fintech industry in the Philippines, including the issues of financial inclusion and access to credit for underserved communities. He also discusses how GoodTech is addressing these challenges by providing a mobile-first, cloud-native, neo-banking platform powered by financial scoring and education systems through its product GoodBank. During the podcast, Jove Tapiador also talks about the challenges and opportunities in rural banking in the Philippines. With his extensive experience in general consulting, electronic payments, rural banking, microfinance, and community development, Jove Tapiador provides valuable insights into the financial landscape in the Philippines and the potential for Fintech to make a positive impact on the lives of Filipinos. About Smile API Smile API provides employment data across different employment platforms and employers, all through a single API for credit decisions and loan underwriting. With Smile API, lenders can make better decisions, increase adoption and conversion, reduce cost, and lower risk. About GoodTech GoodTech is a financial technology provider focused on financial inclusion for millions of underserved communities in the Philippines. GoodBank is a mobile-first, cloud-native, neo-banking platform powered by financial scoring and education systems, which is a product of the Rural Bank of Silay City.

- The Smile API Podcast recently featured Gani Cuyugan, the Co-Founder and Chief Sales Officer of Kwik.insure. In this episode, Jerome Eger, CEO of Smile API, sat down with Cuyugan to discuss the future of the insurance industry and Kwik.insure's unique approach to financial inclusion. As the first and only locally founded insurtech company in the Philippines, Kwik.insure's mission is to accelerate insurance inclusion through technology and product design, catering to the different needs of all Filipinos. With a passion for serving the underserved, Cuyugan shared his insights on how Kwik.insure is changing the game in the insurance industry by making insurance accessible to everyone. During the podcast, Cuyugan discussed his years of experience in the insurance industry. Cuyugan shared how these experiences helped shape his vision for Kwik.insure and how the company's innovative approach is making a difference in the industry. Kwik.insure's unique approach to making insurance accessible to everyone through technology and product design is truly inspiring, and we are excited to see how they will continue to shape the industry. To listen to the full episode of The Smile API Podcast featuring Gani Cuyugan, visit our #TheSmileAPIPodcast on Spotify and YouTube! About Smile Smile believes that access to your own data is a basic right. They provide employment data across different employment platforms and employers, all through a single API for credit decisions and loan underwriting. Unlike traditional sources of credit data like credit scores, black lists, or manually submitted documents, Smile provides greater coverage, real-time access, and the most recent, comprehensive, verified, data about your users' identity, employment, and income that is available in the market today. Lenders can make better decisions, increase adoption and conversion, reduce cost, and lower risk through Smile API. About Kwik.insure Kwik.insure is the first and only locally founded insurtech company in the Philippines. Through it’s insurance online marketplace and partnerships with other companies both online and offline, it’s mission is to accelerate the insurance inclusion in the Philippines. It aims to make insurance available to everyone through technology and product design, catering to the different needs of all Filipinos.

- Smile API will launch its pilot Fintech podcast on September 9 addressing the challenges in credit scoring that burden banks and other financial institutions. Led by Smile CEO Jerome Eger, the debut episode will stream at 5 PM on YouTube, Spotify, Facebook, and LinkedIn participated in by Aian Guanzon, the business head of Global Dominion Financing, Inc. (GDFI). The Smile API Podcast shall be a series of episodes that will feature experts and talents in fintech, banking, and credit risk management providing perspectives on digital banking, the open finance era, alternative data, and much more! In the pilot episode, viewers will have the opportunity to learn about effective credit scoring solutions. They are designed to help lenders make the right lending decisions by having not only reliable but more importantly relevant information on loan applicants and potential customers. For many lending companies, credit scoring could be tedious especially if done through traditional sources of credit data like credit scores, black lists, or manually submitted documents. Thankfully today, advancements in information infrastructure have made it possible to make credit risk assessment faster and with more meaning and value through access to alternative data. They involve a wide variety of information like identity, employment, income data, and government transactions to name a few. Other topics included in the pilot episode are KYC or Know Your Customer processes, dependence on digital mobile and online payments, open finance framework in the Philippines, as well as a beneficial use of income data. About Smile Smile believes that access to your own data is a basic right. They provide employment data across different employment platforms and employers, all through a single API for credit decisions and loan underwriting. Unlike traditional sources of credit data like credit scores, black lists, or manually submitted documents, Smile provides greater coverage, real-time access, and the most recent, comprehensive, verified, data about your users' identity, employment, and income that is available in the market today. Lenders can make better decisions, increase adoption and conversion, reduce cost, and lower risk through Smile API. About GDFI “We are a financial institution helping Filipinos achieve their goals through easy and affordable loan products and services. We have been championing innovative loan facilities to cater to the changing needs of our customers, whether for car purchases, business capital, tuition fee, home improvement, or even emergency and medical expenses, with easily manageable interest rates and convenient payment options. For more than a decade we have been the leading financial services provider to various sectors including OFWs, professionals, business owners, and executives, offering tailor-fit cash loans and financial services. With more than 78 branches nationwide, we are highly equipped to serve you, wherever you are.” About Jerome Eger Jerome Eger is the CEO of Smile API which was launched in May 2020. Their team aims to cover all of Asia by giving workers greater access to financial services by facilitating the easy sharing of their employment and income data. About Aian Guanzon Aian Guanzon is a nurse with a bachelor in nursing (BSN) degree from the Our Lady of Fatima University (OLFU), the current head of business development in Glob