UnionDigital Bank, a digital banking subsidiary of UnionBank of the Philippines, is set to launch a microloan program with the Social Security System (SSS) this year, as reported by BusinessWorld. The program will let micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) apply for capital digitally through UnionDigital’s banking app. SSS first introduced LoanLite last September, and the product builds around it. It offers eligible SSS members loan amounts between PHP 1,000 and PHP 20,000, with repayment terms of 15 to 90 days at an 8% annual interest rate plus a service fee. UnionDigital Banks’s head of brand and communications, Kimberly Dy-Tenchavez,…

Philippine Business Bank Inc. has appointed Maria Lourdes Trinidad as its Chief Operating Officer (COO), effective 16 July 2026, as reported by Asian Banking & Finance. Trinidad will also hold the rank of Executive Vice President, the bank said in a bourse filing. Trinidad most recently served as Senior Vice President and Head of Enterprise Risk at Philippine Business Bank. Before that, she held chief risk officer roles at RCBC Savings Bank and Sterling Bank of Asia. Philippine Business Bank is a thrift bank focused on small and medium enterprises, or businesses with assets between PHP 3 million and PHP…

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has lifted its nearly five-year moratorium on new online lending platforms (OLPs), replacing it with a stricter framework for financing and lending companies. The Commission issued Memorandum Circular No. 20, Series of 2026 (MC 20) on 7 July, effective 1 August. MC 20 applies to all financing companies (FCs) and lending companies (LCs) using digital apps or web-based systems to offer credit. The guidelines strengthen consumer protection through tighter disclosure requirements, responsible lending practices, and closer regulatory oversight. SEC Chairperson Francis Lim said the SEC “welcomes and promotes financial innovation but will not tolerate…

Philippine thrift banks grew profit, assets, and loans in the first quarter of 2026, even as the sector adapts to digital transformation, artificial intelligence, and tougher competition from digital banks and fintechs, according to the Chamber of Thrift Banks (CTB), as reported by Philstar. Net profit rose 11.8% to PHP 5.86 billion in the first quarter from PHP 5.24 billion a year earlier, per BSP data. Total operating income jumped 27.6% to PHP 28.84 billion, supported by a 24.7% increase in net interest income to PHP 24.77 billion. Non-interest income climbed 48.7% to PHP 4.06 billion, while fees and commissions…

Digital financial services now shape everyday life, placing greater pressure on companies to earn and keep customer trust. With more transactions, more touchpoints and more customer data, getting security right has never been more important. eKYC is no longer just a compliance checkbox. It is now a critical part of how financial institutions build and maintain trust across the entire customer journey. This webinar will bring together industry experts from across the region to share practical insights on what comes next for eKYC in APAC. The evolving role of eKYC across the full digital customer journey Tackling identity fraud and…

Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) reported first-half net income of PHP 32.8 billion, down 0.4% from a year earlier, in a disclosure to the stock exchange on 16 July. Sharply higher provisions for expected credit losses outweighed double-digit revenue growth despite sustained lending momentum. Total revenues rose 12.4% year-on-year to PHP 104 billion, supported by a 12.5% increase in net interest income as average earning assets expanded 11.3% and net interest margin widened five basis points to 4.63%. Non-interest income increased 12.1% to PHP 24 billion, led by an 18% rise in fees from credit cards, investment banking, insurance,…

GCash has partnered with KwikCare to offer health maintenance organisation (HMO) coverage directly through its app, as reported by Manila Standard, marking the first such offering available on the platform. The plan is distributed through GInsure, GCash’s in-app insurance platform, as a flexible monthly subscription rather than a traditional annual policy. Plans start at PHP 995 a month and require no large upfront costs or lengthy paperwork, with sign-up taking a few minutes. Subscribers get cashless access to more than 2,000 accredited healthcare providers nationwide, covering inpatient, outpatient, emergency, and laboratory services, with benefits of up to PHP 350,000 and…

Cebuana Lhuillier has partnered with Fireblocks to build a stablecoin-powered payment rail for its cross-border remittance business, according to Inquirer.net. The new rail is designed to settle domestic and cross-border transfers faster and more cheaply than the company’s existing infrastructure, running on the Solana blockchain. Fireblocks, which says it secures more than US$6 trillion in digital asset transfers annually, will supply Cebuana Lhuillier with wallet technology, reconciliation tools, and its Network for Payments infrastructure. Fireblocks said this lets Cebuana Lhuillier and its international partners fund settlement accounts directly, aiming to speed up liquidity across its remittance corridors. Cebuana Lhuillier operates…

Netbank has expanded its partnership with JIA Finance to embed account opening directly within JIA’s platform, as announced by Netbank on LinkedIn. The integration helps SME borrowers onboard more easily while streamlining settlements for JIA’s invoice financing product. The move builds on a loan-channeling partnership the two companies first struck in early 2025. It was under which JIA assigned loans through Netbank’s infrastructure to scale its invoice financing business in the Philippines. Netbank said combining JIA’s financing expertise with its own digital banking infrastructure creates a faster, more connected financing experience for Philippine SMEs. JIA Finance provides invoice financing that…

Most compliance teams do not have an AML cost problem. They have an AML fragmentation problem. Screening runs on one platform, transaction monitoring on another, entity data somewhere else, and investigators spend their days moving between them. Our new book, 20 Things That Make the Complete AML System, is written to address exactly this. It sets out the essential building blocks of a modern AML framework and explains how screening, monitoring, investigations, reporting, governance, and technology combine into a single, defensible compliance environment rather than a collection of isolated tools. The book is not a theory piece. Each of the…

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has issued a new guidance paper on AI governance for financial institutions, setting out principles for how banks and other BSP-supervised entities should manage the risks of adopting artificial intelligence. The memorandum, dated 24 June 2026 and signed by Deputy Governor Lyn I. Javier, is to guide institutions in building their own AI governance frameworks rather than impose a fixed set of rules. Compliance with the guidance is voluntary. The BSP said institutions should scale their governance approach to match the size, complexity, and materiality of their own AI use, rather than apply a…

Billease reported audited FY2025 results showing revenue grew more than 80% to US$151.2 million for the year ended 31 December 2025. Net profit reached US$13.6 million over the same period. The consumer finance and buy now, pay later (BNPL) platform posted a return on assets of roughly 6.8%. This extends a multi-year run of profitability in a market where most digital lenders remain unprofitable. Billease’s gross loan book grew more than 77% to US$212.1 million. Total assets reached US$233.5 million. The platform now onboards more than 100,000 new customers every month. Georg Steiger, co-founder and CEO of Billease, said the…

Botim has integrated its digital services into the Philippines’ Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS) program through an ongoing partnership with BDO Unibank. The move targets the estimated 700,000 Filipinos working in the UAE, allowing them to activate digital wallets and access cross-border services before they relocate. Throughout 2026, the seminars will be delivered across BDO Unibank’s nationwide network. The sessions provide structured briefings, financial literacy training, and on-the-spot onboarding for the Botim app. The partnership shifts customer acquisition to the pre-departure phase. This gives Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) early access to a regulated platform for payments, remittances, credit, and savings. The…

RCBC and Visa have launched a new automated fare collection system on LRT-2, as reported by Manila Bulletin. Commuters can now tap Visa or Mastercard cards, NFC-enabled wallets such as Google Pay, or scan GCash QR to pay fares, all through a single interoperable platform. RCBC developed the system with the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to be bank-agnostic, accepting instruments from any participating bank, e-money issuer, or fintech provider. RCBC and Manila Bulletin describe it as the country’s first rail-based system to combine open-loop EMV cards, NFC, and QR payments on one platform.…

Skyro has rolled out SkyroCredit, a reusable digital credit line, nationwide across the Philippines, following a pilot phase that drew more than 100,000 users. Customers used the pilot for everyday purchases including groceries, medicines, fuel, and dining, and Skyro said it is also exploring expansion into other Southeast Asian markets. SkyroCredit gives customers a fixed, revolving credit limit accessible entirely within the Skyro app, with no physical card and no reliance on the Visa or Mastercard networks. Users can spend by scanning any QR Ph code, the Philippine QR payment standard accepted at more than 90% of merchant outlets nationwide,…

The Philippines LRT-2 line in Manila now accepts Mastercard contactless payments, as reported by YugaTech. Commuters can tap Mastercard credit, debit and prepaid cards, or mobile wallets linked to eligible Mastercard cards, to pay their fare. The contactless option works at designated Fast Lanes for station entry, letting riders tap their card or an NFC-enabled device instead of buying a separate fare card. It joins LRT-2’s existing cashless options, which include mobile NFC payments and GCash Commute QR. Mastercard Philippines Country Manager Jason Crasto said the rollout is meant to make commuting more seamless and secure, adding that “paying for…

Filipinos’ contributions to the Personal Equity and Retirement Account (PERA) rose 45.3% to PHP 757.554 million in the first half of 2026, up from PHP 521.363 million a year earlier. As reported to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data reported by BusinessWorld. The number of contributors nearly quintupled over the same period, rising to 30,055 from 6,193. Self-employed Filipinos drove most of the enrollee growth, jumping to 23,529 from 942 a year earlier, a rise of nearly 2,400%. Their contributions also grew fastest, more than doubling to PHP207.901 million. Employee contributions still made up the largest share of the total,…

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has absorbed PHP 1.3 trillion in excess liquidity from the financial system through its open market operations, as reported by BusinessWorld, citing the central bank’s Monetary Policy Report for June 2026. The absorption, recorded as of 9 June, kept the overnight reverse repurchase rate aligned with the BSP’s policy target. More than half of the total, 52.3%, was absorbed through the overnight reverse repurchase facility. Another 21.5% came from the overnight deposit facility. BSP securities accounted for 19.2%, and the term deposit facility (TDF) made up the remaining 6.9%. Weighted average accepted yield on…

The state-owned Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines (AAIIBP) has named former Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman as its new chair and CEO, as reported by the Manila Times. AAIIBP announced the appointment on 10 July, describing it as the start of a new chapter for the bank’s push to strengthen Islamic banking and expand financial inclusion among Filipino Muslims. The appointment marks Pangandaman’s return to government roles. She resigned as Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management in November, alongside then-Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, after her name surfaced in connection with the flood control corruption scandal. Resigned lawmaker…

GoTyme Bank has surpassed 10 million users in the Philippines, according to a 10 July announcement reported by Asian Banking & Finance, nearly four years after the digital bank launched in October 2022. GoTyme said it now holds about US$ 861.45 million (PHP 53 billion) in deposits. The bank’s debit card was the most-used Visa debit card in the Philippines in 2025, based on data from the card network. The bank operates 600 kiosks across Robinsons and SM retail stores nationwide, where customers can open accounts and receive personalised cards. Customers can also deposit and withdraw cash through more than…