Billease and RCBC are deepening their partnership as the consumer finance platform doubles its credit facility with Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation to ₱1 billion, a year after starting with an initial ₱500 million facility.
The expanded arrangement goes beyond lending. Billease will also tap RCBC for corporate cash management, savings and foreign exchange services, signaling a broader shift in how established Philippine banks and fintech companies can work together as digital lenders scale.
The deal also highlights a potentially important development for fintech financing: using a lender’s existing loan receivables as collateral through the Philippines’ Personal Property Security Registry (PPSR).
A bigger facility with a broader relationship
The increase in funding comes as Billease continues to expand its consumer lending business. Rather than relying solely on traditional financing sources, the company is increasingly turning to local banking relationships to fund growth.
That strategy could become more important as Philippine fintech lenders mature. Banks bring access to local capital and established financial infrastructure, while fintechs can contribute digital distribution, alternative credit assessment and technology-driven customer acquisition.
In Billease’s case, the relationship with RCBC is moving beyond a conventional borrowing arrangement. The addition of cash management, savings and FX services creates a wider institutional banking relationship between the two companies.
For Billease, deeper access to local banking services could help streamline how it manages its growing operations while supporting its effort to reduce reliance on offshore debt and improve its overall cost of capital.
Using fintech receivables as collateral
One of the more notable aspects of the arrangement is its security structure.
The facility uses the Personal Property Security Registry to register and perfect a security interest over Billease’s consumer loan receivables. The PPSR, established under the Personal Property Security Act, provides a centralized system for registering security interests in movable assets.
In practical terms, Billease’s pool of consumer loan receivables serves as secured backing for the facility. The arrangement is also over-collateralized, with the collateral pool periodically refreshed and a defined payment waterfall providing additional protection to the lender.
This structure could have implications beyond the two companies.
As more fintech lenders build sizable loan portfolios, the ability to finance those receivables through transparent, registry-backed structures could give Philippine banks greater confidence in lending to technology-driven financial companies.
It could also provide fintechs with another path to raise capital locally without depending as heavily on unsecured or offshore borrowing.
Growth backed by profitability
The larger facility comes after a strong financial year for Billease.
On an audited consolidated basis, the company reported FY2025 revenue of ₱8.7 billion, representing growth of more than 80%, while net profit reached ₱750 million. Billease said this marked its third consecutive profitable year.
Its loan portfolio grew by more than 75% to approximately ₱11.3 billion, while total assets reached ₱13.3 billion. The company also reported onboarding more than 150,000 new customers each month.
Those figures are significant in a BNPL market where rapid customer and loan growth does not always translate into profitability. Billease’s ability to expand while remaining profitable gives banks a different risk profile to consider when evaluating funding relationships.
The company also reported approximately ₱5.6 billion in total equity against ₱6.7 billion in total borrowings as of December 31, 2025.
A sign of fintech-bank convergence
The Billease-RCBC deal points to a financial industry where banks and fintechs are increasingly becoming partners rather than simply competitors.
Banks have the capital, regulatory infrastructure and institutional relationships that growing fintechs need. Fintechs, meanwhile, can bring technology, specialized lending models and access to consumers who may not always fit traditional banking processes.
Billease’s expansion into regulated banking through its acquisition of a rural bank further adds to this convergence, potentially giving the company additional capabilities in deposits and other financial products.
For RCBC, the transaction provides an opportunity to support a growing local fintech while building a secured lending structure around its underlying assets.
For the broader Philippine financial sector, the ₱1-billion facility could offer a glimpse of what comes next: more sophisticated partnerships where banks provide the capital and infrastructure while fintechs bring the technology and reach to serve a wider market.
