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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider Heritage that endures: Cebuana Lhuillier's legacy of financial inclusion

Heritage that endures: Cebuana Lhuillier's legacy of financial inclusion

By MBrand
Published Sep 18, 2025 01:05 pm

At A Glance

  • From a modest pawnshop in Cebu opened in 1953, PJ Lhuillier, Inc. (Cebuana Lhuillier) has grown into the country's most trusted microfinancial services provider.
  • Cebuana Lhuillier operates with the strength of 12,500 employees and more than 3 million global touchpoints, making it the Philippines' largest and most accessible microfinancial hub.
From a modest pawnshop in Cebu opened in 1953, PJ Lhuillier, Inc. (Cebuana Lhuillier) has grown into the country’s most trusted microfinancial services provider. For more than seven decades, the company has empowered millions of Filipinos with access to financial solutions that bridge urgent needs while opening doors to long-term opportunity.
“Cebuana Lhuillier has always been about more than financial transactions—it is about creating opportunities, building trust, and enabling progress for every Filipino,” said Jean Henri Lhuillier, President and CEO of Cebuana Lhuillier. “Our heritage continues to inspire us as we innovate and expand, ensuring that financial inclusion becomes a reality for all.”
Over the years, Cebuana Lhuillier has marked significant milestones of transformation. From its early expansion across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao in the 1980s and 1990s, the company has since evolved from a nationwide pawnshop network into a diversified financial hub. The 2000s saw the addition of remittance, insurance, savings, and rural banking, followed in the 2010s by investments in financial education and digital solutions. Most recently, the 2020s ushered in the company’s TechBrick model — seamlessly integrating over 3,500 physical branches with robust online platforms to ensure Filipinos have access to financial services anytime, anywhere.
Today, Cebuana Lhuillier operates with the strength of 12,500 employees and more than 3 million global touchpoints, making it the Philippines’ largest and most accessible microfinancial hub. Its portfolio reflects the journey of the everyday Filipino—bridge financing through pawning, loans, and money transfer services to meet urgent needs; savings and insurance for long-term security; entrepreneurial support through the KaNegosyo Center to fuel MSME growth; and wealth-building tools like the Cebuana Lhuillier Gold Bar and microinvestment products that make asset ownership possible, even for first-time investors.
This unique positioning has not gone unnoticed on the global stage. Cebuana Lhuillier has earned more than a thousand recognitions for innovation, leadership, and impact from prestigious institutions such as the International Business Awards (Stevie Awards), Golden Bridge Awards, Asia CEO Awards, the Philippine Quill Awards, and Investors in People, which conferred its coveted Gold accreditation. These distinctions underscore not only the company’s scale and resilience but also its reputation as a pioneer of inclusive finance.
As Cebuana Lhuillier looks ahead, its mission remains grounded in the same vision that has guided it since 1953: to make financial inclusion practical, accessible, and sustainable for all Filipinos. From meeting urgent needs to enabling long-term wealth, its story is one of enduring heritage—proof that trust, when built over generations, can create opportunities that last a lifetime.

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