TRUEMONEY PHILIPPINES BUCKS THE COVID-19 CHALLENGE

In the midst of the pandemic, Eugene C. Go presided over the stellar growth of fintech company TrueMoney Philippines posting 48 percent revenue growth, 55 percent rise in GP and an EBITDA improvement of 76 percent through a correct reading of opportunities arising from the flareup in the COVID-19 pandemic in the business environment.

And for this year, TrueMoney is headed for a better performance than that of last year and with the attendant promise that the fintech will be able to reach out to part of the 70 percent of the populace who are unbanked by providing “products that allow life to go on during these difficult times.”

Eugene, who has 28 years of experience in brand development, management and operations for various FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods), cited the company’s work force, including those in the management committee who all pitched in for the success of the company’s push for a digital platform in conducting their business as the pandemic raged on.

“We had to innovate and find ways to conduct our business without risking the health and welfare of our employees,” Eugene said. He joined the company as Chief Executive Officer from Philippine Airlines where he was Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Marketing Officer.

A graduate of De La Salle University with a Marketing Management degree and a Master’s Degree from the Singapore Institute of Management, he cites the “commitment and teamwork” of employees and the ManCom members to TrueMoney’s exceptional performance.

At the start of the pandemic, “it certainly disrupted the way we did things. It was very difficult to do our business in a brick-and-mortar manner,” Eugene said. “We had to innovate and find ways to conduct our business without risking the health and welfare of our employees,” he told The Financial District.

“In a way, COVID-19 challenged us to work smarter and faster,” Eugene said, pointing to the 20,000 plus registered partner agents strategically distributed nationally that TrueMoney has been able to tap.

That partnership proved to be providential as the company was able to push a business model where clients can transact with TrueMoney near their point of residence.

What the company did was to “find better and smarter ways to move the business forward through key partnerships and product expansion without having to increase its operational expenses.”

And that stood well for the company as it embraced the digital platform while trying to work around lock down restrictions, no contact policies and strict controls on mobility. “We maximized digital platforms to extend ourselves to both our agents and customers. We learned to work smarter and quicker by maximizing digital space," Eugene said.

Asked what made the company successful, Eugene said that it was “the sincere commitment to serve the Filipino people” that differentiated TrueMoney from the competition.

In fact, he said that “our business model is based on sustainability where we empower small businesses in the barangay level to provide financial services for under and unbanked “kababayans.”

And for this the company is nurtured by a platform that runs on multiple channels to suit the needs of more than 20,000 TrueMoney centers nationwide.

Even with the success of his stewardship of the company, Eugene is now looking forward to providing better services to his “kababayans.”

“Given the pandemic, domestic and inbound international remittance is a key service that a lot of Filipinos use to help their relatives and loved ones. TrueMoney allows senders and receivers to have safe and convenient access to these services,” Eugene said.

He also said that TrueMoney clients “need not take additional risks of travelling or going to populated areas.” Aside from this, TrueMoney has made it convenient for its clients to be serviced even with the emergence of e-Wallets as “users still need access points to cash-in and cash-out. And that is where its 20,000 plus partners come into focus for its fintech services.”

Five years hence, Eugene sees TrueMoney to be “in a better financial position with greater brand imagery and stronger product portfolio.”

What more, he sees the company “to continue to serve and be an enabler of our unbanked and underserved countrymen while continuing to expand our reach not just nationwide but also all over the world.”

And with TrueMoney as a subsidiary of Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group, the arch for a global presence is not far-fetched.

But for now, Eugene is happy in the thought that as a new company, TrueMoney took the odds head on and won.

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