Philippine fintech lender First Circle has secured a 300 million pesos (about $5 million) sustainable finance facility from Taiwan-based Cathay United Bank, according to an announcement.
The facility, finalised in April 2026, comes as the digital lender looks to expand credit access for underserved small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Philippines. It also marked First Circle’s first financing partnership with a Taiwanese bank.
Cathay United Bank, one of Taiwan’s largest lenders, has been expanding its presence across Asia through cross-border financing partnerships and sustainable banking initiatives.
First Circle said the facility would strengthen its funding base as demand rises for faster and more accessible business financing among Philippine SMEs, particularly companies underserved by traditional banks.
The latest facility follows the International Finance Corporation (IFC)’s proposed investment in a securitisation structure backed by receivables generated by First Circle’s SME lending operations.
First Circle is owned by Carabao Capital Philippines Pte. Ltd., an investment holding company incorporated in Singapore and wholly owned by Carabao Capital Global.
The company’s shareholders include IFC, Koru Ventures Fund I, a Singapore-based vehicle linked to Venturra, and Insignia Ventures Partners. Its founders collectively own the majority of Carabao Capital Global on a fully diluted basis.
First Circle was officially launched in 2016 to provide loans to Philippines-based SMEs, most of whom had no prior credit history. It used new and alternative data points to provide supply chain and trade financing to the SMEs.
First Circle raised $26 million in a Series A funding round led by Indonesia-based venture capital firm Venturra back in 2018. Previously, the fintech company raised about $2.5 million in several tranches of a seed round between 2016 and 2018.
