Trusting Social Philippines has integrated its AI-powered telecommunications (telco) credit score into the underwriting engine of Datung, a Singapore- and Manila-based microfinance company. The partnership enables Datung to approve loans in minutes for Filipino micro-entrepreneurs who lack the borrowing history traditionally required by banks.

The integration covers unsecured personal loans and microfinance. Instead of relying on financial statements—which many micro-enterprises do not maintain—applicants are assessed using alternative credit scoring.

Addressing the Financing Gap for MSMEs

The partnership comes as Filipinos continue to establish businesses faster than traditional credit systems can document them. The Department of Trade and Industry recorded nearly 850,000 business name registrations in the first eight months of 2026, an eight percent increase year on year. Of these, 726,386 were new registrations.

For newly established businesses, the absence of financial records can make securing a loan difficult, even when the business has potential.

Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) accounted for 99.63% of the Philippines’ 1.24 million registered businesses in 2024 and generated approximately two-thirds of employment, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. Yet MSME loans represent less than five percent of the banking system’s total loan portfolio, based on the latest Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas data—less than half of the 10% benchmark set under the Magna Carta for MSMEs.

“Without a formal bank history, new businesses are usually locked out from day one,” said Johnny Escaler, Chief Executive Officer of Trusting Social Philippines. “But having no paper trail doesn’t mean someone isn’t reliable. Partnering with Datung turns that daily track record into a usable score they need to back deserving small business owners who don’t have formal credit histories.”

Turning Everyday Behavior Into Credit Insights

Trusting Social’s alternative credit scoring models analyze behavioral signals, including payment consistency, activity stability, and patterns built over time. These models generate a score in seconds, which Datung’s underwriting engine uses to support its loan decisions.

Trusting Social has operated in the Philippines since 2019 and has scored more than 110 million Filipinos.

Datung combines alternative data, e-wallet cash flows, and insights from its field officers to develop a more comprehensive view of each borrower. Its underwriting system also learns from repayment activity, complementing the company’s group lending model.

“We think of underwriting as a learning system, not a checklist,” said Kasper Abildgaard Svendsen, Chief Executive Officer of Datung. “Our AI agents combine alternative data, e-wallet cash flows and insights from our field officers into a single view of each borrower, and every repayment feeds back into our models, alongside the discipline of our group lending model. Trusting Social’s telco score is a valuable addition to that picture. More signal going in means sharper decisions coming out, and that advantage compounds with every borrower we serve.”

The technology also supports Datung’s community-based approach to microfinance, which involves small groups, borrower training, and field officers who visit entrepreneurs at their workplaces.

“We built Datung around small groups, training and officers who visit borrowers where they work,” said Charan Uttamchandani, Chief Operating Officer of Datung. “The scoring does not replace any of that. It points us toward more of the people worth visiting.”

Building Credit Histories Through Access

Borrowers approved through this approach can begin establishing a formal repayment record from their first loan. Over time, that record can help demonstrate their creditworthiness to other financial institutions—an important step for businesses with no established borrowing history.

“A credit score does not fix an economy, it does take away one reason a lender says no,” Escaler said. “Each loan that gets repaid builds a permanent credit history, meaning the next institution won’t have to guess. It’s about getting that first door open so viable businesses can keep growing.”

By combining alternative credit scoring with AI-driven underwriting and community-based microfinance, Trusting Social and Datung aim to make financing more accessible to underserved entrepreneurs across the Philippines and Southeast Asia.

About Trusting Social

Trusting Social is an Asian AI company that helps financial institutions reach and serve underserved consumers. Its AI-powered credit scoring, identity verification, and customer acquisition solutions have scored more than 1 billion consumers across Asia, including 110 million in the Philippines, and are used by more than 200 financial institutions.

Visit trustingsocial.ph or trustingsocial.com for more information.

About Datung

Datung is an AI-native microfinance company working to close the MSME credit gap across Southeast Asia. Operating out of Singapore and Manila, it uses AI-driven underwriting and alternative data to provide fast, fair credit access to the region’s informal micro-entrepreneurs, a segment representing a $500 billion financing gap.

Visit datung.io for more information.