7-Eleven PH offers P711M zero-interest loans to franchisees

Philippine Seven Corp. (PSC), the exclusive Philippine licensor of 7-Eleven, is providing up to P711 million in zero-interest loans to its franchisees through the Pandemic Support Program (PSP) to aid them through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fund disbursements for the program, which allows franchisees to borrow money at zero interest, started on June 20.

PSC President and CEO Jose Victor Paterno stated that the company secured increased credit lines from banks to strategically deploy capital during the pandemic.

As of end-April, 22 percent of 7-Eleven stores in the Philippines were closed, a figure that decreased to 11 percent by the end of May.

Paterno mentioned that many stores are currently unprofitable and this situation is expected to persist until the end of the year.

Should a franchisee choose to no longer continue, all outstanding balances from the PSP will be forgiven.

PSC is also requesting landlords to help franchisees by reducing rent, as many of its over 1,000 franchisees have to pay rent.