**Taguig City, PHILIPPINES**—Home Credit Philippines (HCPH), the country’s leading consumer finance company, remains committed in championing workplace equality and bridging the gender gap for access to financial services in the country.

Since HCPH opened its business in the country in 2013, the company has taken great strides to promote inclusion; both through equal opportunity employment and women’s economic empowerment. The company now proudly boasts a workforce of over 15,000 employees nationwide with a 51:49 female-to-male ratio.

HCPH has successfully achieved this gender balance by actively providing opportunities for women and ensuring that there is equal representation in the C-suite or people management level, with five out of 12 of its executives being female.

According to HCPH’s Chief People Officer, Alpha Omega Aquino, this commitment is driven by the organization’s dedication to upholding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) within the framework of its environmental, social and governance (ESG) pillars.

“At Home Credit, we believe that there are no small roles and that everyone is important. Empowering women and promoting gender equality allow us to break down barriers to unlock the full potential of individuals and cultivate a workplace where employees feel valued and fully supported; thus, enabling our employees to experience a sense of belonging.

This approach not only fosters an inclusive work environment but also serves as our competitive edge to attract and retain top talent from the modern workforce,” Aquino noted.

The company’s unwavering commitment to DE&I is also a pivotal factor in ensuring effective customer service. As HCPH undergoes continues expansion in the country and its customer base evolves, the diversity within its workforce plays a crucial role in understanding and meeting the varied needs of the company’s consumers. This paves the way for the refinement of HCPH’s services and offers, tailoring them more effectively to empower its diverse clientele, especially women.

For instance, in the past year, HCPH initiated the Home Credit is the Key: Back-to-School Campaign from Jul 1 to Sep 30, 2023. The drive aimed to assist mothers in preparing for their children's upcoming school year and ensuring productivity and their best possible education. Through this initiative, the company offered flexible payment plans with zero interest on gadgets essential for students' studies and provided cash loan offers to aid cashflow and boost household budgets, helping alleviate the financial stress during that time of the year.

Efforts like these have expanded Home Credit's customer base to include more women, reaching more than 560,000 new, female customers in 2023. Meanwhile, it has served 5.5 million women customers—52% of its total customer base—broadening women's access to credit opportunities and formal financial services since its establishment in 2013.

As part of its ongoing commitment to DE&I, HCPH continues to strengthen its internal initiatives this National Women’s Month to cultivate further a work environment built on trust, integrity and respect.

To kick off its 2024 and beyond DE&I agenda, the company collaborated with organizations like the Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment, Investing in Women, and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. These partnerships facilitated workshops focused on the company’s GEARS (Gender Equality Assessment, Results and Strategies) assessment to create a strong foundation for the organization’s DE&I roadmap.

“We continue to strengthen our DE&I initiatives by focusing on crucial aspects such as recruitment, selection and promotion; conducting comprehensive workplace gender equality training; reinforcing leadership and accountability measures and addressing accessibility and reasonable accommodations.

Aside from that, we are also expanding our employee resource groups to champion women and people with disabilities, ensuring that every voice is heard. Our goal is to continue creating a workplace free from barriers, where everyone can thrive,” remarked Aquino.

As a testament to HCPH’s commitment to DE&I, the company has received recognition from reputable award-giving bodies. In 2022, it earned a Gold Stevie® for the Innovative Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion category at the tenth Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, highlighting the company’s success in streamlining recruitment processes to reach a more diverse pool of talent.

It was also honored with the Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Award in the recently concluded The Living Laurels 2024 by the Malaya Business Insight, recognizing its efforts in fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion in the consumer finance industry.

“At Home Credit Philippines, our commitment to inclusion does not end in the way we serve our customers but equally extend to the way we operate. The recognitions we have recieved over the years validate our DE&I organizational milestones. It serves as an inspiration to conitnously improve as we continue in rallying more organizations to champion DE&I. Together, we can strive to build a truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive Philippines—para sa Filipino, para sa life,” expressed Sheila Paul, Chief Marketing Officer of HCPH.