About 1.3 billion seconds — equivalent to 42 years — were spent by persons in using digital lending applications in the Philippines in 2023, according to new analysis from consumer credit service Digido.

An examination of 70 digital lending applications duly-registered to operate in the country, including Digido, reveal that 63.4% of that time was spent on platforms offering personal loans, followed by ‘point-of-sale’ and secured loans at 17.5%, ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) services at 16.6% and installment loans at 2.5%. 

Activity seen in the 70 apps increased by 37% when comparing it to activity in 2022.

The average user of digital lending apps spent approximately 14 minutes and seven seconds per month in 2023 while the average duration of a user’s session was 54 seconds.

The total number of downloads of digital lending apps reached 89.66 million units in 2023, up 52% a year earlier (or +30.81 million units), with unique users reaching 47.46 million (+64% a year earlier or +18.60 million people). Active users, meanwhile, reached 7.7 million people (+25% a year earlier or +1.55 million people) in the same comparative period.