DAVAO CITY — Homegrown conglomerate New City Commercial Center (NCCC) has partnered with blockchain firm TraXion Tech Inc. to provide an online-based credit line to members of cooperatives and affiliate companies, which can be used to shop at NCCC supermarkets and its other retail stores.

Lafayette A. Lim, NCCC Group of Companies chief executive officer, said the Ka Partner program, which will use both cards with QR code and mobile application, is eyeing to sign up about 500,000 members of cooperatives in Mindanao within the year.

“(The program) will benefit the users using the Ka Partner Card,” said Mr. Lim at a press conference Tuesday.

It is tied with the Ka-Coop Card program of NCCC with various cooperatives that are also involved in the retail business.

Dominador D. Catacutan Jr., NCCC chief financial officer, said seven cooperatives, which are among the biggest in Mindanao, have so far applied for the program.

The credit limit will be set for each cooperative, which in turn will decide the allocation for its members.

Ann J. Cuisia, founder and chief executive officer of TraXion, said the program provides an easier means for the cooperative members to secure a credit line, which is usually not possible with financial institutions.

“Our focus is the underserved and unbanked communities,” she said.

The NCCC-TraXion partnership will also provide benefits to the cooperatives such as reduced cost of handling cash loans, and trainings on enterprise management.

Ms. Cuisia added that the Ka Partner Card will eventually have more applications as “NCCC has a bigger vision of providing more features, more functions.”

“When there is technology, there are so many things that you can do for as long as there is engagement,” she said. — Carmelito Q. Francisco

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