In 2021, the Philippines’ fintech industry continued to grow and mature, building on accelerated adoption of digital channels amid COVID-19, investors’ optimism on the prospect of fintech in the Southeast Asian nation, and continued effort from the government to foster financial innovation. Consumer interest in fintech continued to grow in 2021 as mobile wallet penetration effectively surpassed that of bank accounts, according to Moody’s Investors Services. Fintech companies have gained much ground, Moody’s says, noting that Filipino banks have been slow in developing digital services, leaving room for fintech companies to threaten their position. Usage of digital payments also picked…

Moscow-based digital bank Tinkoff announced that it has selected financial services software provider Finastra’s Fusion Essence Cloud core banking solution to power its planned expansion into the Philippines. Finastra’s next generation, cloud-native system will enable Tinkoff to bring a new offering to market quickly and support rapid customer acquisition, whilst maintaining compliance with local regulations. Fusion Essence Cloud is a core banking system with fully digital end-to-end capabilities for all key banking services. With a rich catalogue of open APIs and integration with Finastra’s app marketplace and developer platform, FusionFabric.cloud, Tinkoff will be able to integrate tools from hundreds of…

Philippines’ digital bank Tonik announced that it has surpassed PHP 5 billion (US$100 million) in consumer deposits 8 months after its launch of commercial operations. Tonik had previously secured PHP 1 billion (US$20 million) in consumer deposits within a month of going live last March. The digital bank had recently launched its first lending product called “Quick Loan” to serve the unbanked and underbanked Filipino middle class with a quick and affordable bank loan proposition in under 15 minutes. Tonik had obtained one of the six digital banking licenses that were given out by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)…

Singaporean financial health platform Gigacover announced its expansion into the Philippines to offer more inclusive insurance and healthcare options tailored for the local gig workforce in partnership with Etiqa and Aventus Medical. The company said that flexible and cost-effective group insurance and healthcare options will also be offered to employers. Gigacover starts its market entry with logistics platform Gogo Xpress powered by QuadX as well as entrepreneurship and freelancing group Filipina Homebased Moms (FHMoms) as its first customers, collectively representing 20,500 workers and aiming to serve 100,000 informal workers in the Philippines by Q2 2022. In addition to its existing…

In the Philippines, the fintech sector is developing at a rapid pace, fueled by booming digitalization, a favorable regulatory landscape, and ongoing effort by the government to help boost financial inclusion, a new report jointly produced Fintech News Philippines and FinTech Alliance.ph shows. The Philippines Fintech Report 2022, looks at the state of the fintech industry in the Philippines, highlighting the key developments that occurred over the past year and the emerging trends to look out for. In particular, the report notes rising acceptance of cryptocurrencies and a burgeoning digital asset industry, booming usage of digital payments on the back…

The Philippines is entering its third generation of startups, building on the groundwork laid by early tech pioneers and innovators during the past two decades. This new generation of startups are now thriving on the back of government support and investors’ confidence, and will ultimately fuel the growth of the three key pillars of the domestic startup ecosystem, namely logistics, e-commerce and fintech sectors, a new report by Filipino venture capital (VC) firm Core Capital says. The report, titled the Philippine Startup Ecosystem Report 2021, looks at the state of the Filipino’s startup landscape, outlining the emerging trends and sharing…

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued draft guidelines for the registration and operation of online lending platforms (OLPs) to stamp out abusive and predatory practices. The proposed guidelines will apply to both existing and newly registered financing and lending companies who have yet to own, operate or utilise OLPs. This also includes fintech companies as well as those who have partnered with fintechs to provide their credit products or related services. Under the proposed guidelines, no financing or lending company will be allowed to own, operate, or use OLPs or partner with a fintech without registrations and prior…

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is encouraging the public to use digital wallets when sending cash gifts this holiday season. The central bank said that using digital money as an alternative means of giving cash gifts is highly recommended to reduce physical contact and virus transmission between giver and receiver. This will allow the Filipino tradition of giving “aguinaldo” (giving gifts) to family, friends, and significant others to continue despite restrictions on mobility and face-to-face gatherings. The widespread use of digital money is in line with the BSP’s digital payment transformation and financial inclusion goals. According to its latest…

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), with its flagship financial inclusion app DiskarTech, has reached a five-digit organic growth in partner deposits by end of October versus same period last year. DiskarTech’s partner deposits recorded a 69,526 % and 12,765 % surge in transaction value and volume respectively with close to 3 billion pesos in cash-in value. These cash-in and deposit transactions are being done in over 45,000 touchpoints nationwide. InstaPay outgoing registered a growth of 2,340 % and 25,526 % in transaction volume and value, respectively, while InstaPay incoming booked 790 %a nd 2,521 %, respectively. Formed under the framework…

Philippines’ telecommunications company PLDT and its wireless unit Smart Communications announced that they are utilising Vesta’s anti-fraud solutions to enhance the protection of their online transactions. Vesta is an end-to-end transaction guarantee platforms for online purchases, and its anti-fraud solution was tapped by PayMaya Philippines, the fintech arm of PLDT’s affiliate Voyager Innovations. PayMaya powers the payment acceptance for PLDT and Smart’s digital channels. Through the initiative, PLDT and Smart’s customers will have access to safe, secure, and seamless online payment transactions using PayMaya’s payment acceptance solutions, with Vesta’s anti-fraud tools. Vesta’s real-time decisioning platform provides the analytics and authentication…

Plentina, a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) startup for emerging markets, announced that it has raised US$2.2 million in a latest funding round led by New York-based venture capital firm TMV, bringing its total funds raised to US$5.7 million. Joining TMV are Global Founders Capital and existing investors AV Ventures, Techstars, Unpopular Ventures, and prominent SE Asian family offices. Plentina said that the proceeds from the funding will be used to accelerate its growth in the Philippines, to offer new product expansions, and to begin exploring other markets in Southeast Asia, such as Vietnam. This seed round will also help…

The Fintech Alliance.PH announced that it has signed the Information Sharing Protocol (ISP) with the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to bolster the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing in the country. The AMLC is the Philippines’ Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) tasked to implement the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001. Both parties will be collaborating in the areas of information exchange, and capacity building to enhance each other’s abilities to address money laundering, terrorism, and terrorism financing concerns. It also institutionalises an effective documentation mechanism that performs targeted suspicious transaction monitoring and reporting and develops valuable or breakthrough investigative leads..…

Lista, a bookkeeping app for MSMEs based in the Philippines, has raised an undisclosed sum from oversubscribed round from 1982 Ventures, East Ventures, Saison Capital, Alternate Ventures, and other angel investors. The angel investors include former Grab Philippines’ President and co-founder Brian Cu, Pinelabs’ CEO Amrish Rau, CRED’s Founder Kunal Shah, Jupiter Bank’s Chief Executive Officer Jitendra Gupta and Google APAC’s senior execs Aurelien Pichon, Alap Bharadwaj. Lista said that it will use the funds to grow their team and expand their product offering to reach more MSMEs in the country. Through its financial inclusion app, Lista offers Filipinos a…

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation’s (RCBC) mass-market super app DiskarTech recently launched its new streamlined onboarding process and expanded the number of acceptable IDs for faster account verification. From an original set of seven acceptable IDs required for the app’s digital savings account creation through electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC) process, DiskarTech will now accept a total of 18 IDs. This aims to facilitate a more convenient account registration and verification on the part of its users. Acceptable IDs for eKYC now include the following: Passport, Driver’s License, Unified Multipurpose ID (UMID), Social Security System (SSS) ID, Professional Regulations Commission (PRC)…

Coming off from completing its fresh venture funding, Plentina, a fintech app that allows Filipinos to purchase their goods and services through their favorite merchants and pay later on installments, launches its latest partnership with the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, Shopee. Filipinos can download the Plentina app and avail of loans for vouchers to purchase items on the Shopee app, the country’s ultimate online shopping destination. Plentina is proud to offer loans that have 0% interest and flat service and late fees. “As the holiday season approaches, we are very excited to offer Plentina’s fast and…

Fintech Alliance.ph, a coalition of fintech and digital companies, has tagged a proposed bill in the House of Representatives to tax electronic transactions as a major stumbling block to the digital transformation of the country. The House Bill 6765 or the Digital Economy Taxation Act of of 2020, authored by House of Representatives ways and means committee chairman Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, shall amend the National Internal Revenue Code “to better capture value created into the tax system”. Key provisions in the measure include “network orchestrators” that link customers to service providers and leasers becoming withholding agents for income taxes,…

Philippines digital wallet PayMaya is accelerating the rollout of the QR Ph P2M (person-to-merchant) payment facility across its enterprise partners. QR Ph P2M is the national QR standard for merchant payments that was fully launched by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) this October. PayMaya was among the first financial technology company to adopt QR Ph P2M when the standard was first introduced by BSP in April this year. Since then, the company has rolled out over 160,000 QR Ph P2M acceptance points across its enterprise base. This number includes both online and on-ground touchpoints for all types of merchants,…

Mynt, the holding company of Globe’s fintech arm managing the GCash e-wallet, has raised over US$300 million in funding, valuing the company at over US$2 billion. The company was the only Philippines startup that made it onto Credit Suisse’s list of 35 unicorns in Southeast Asia. The investment round was led by global investment giant Warburg Pincus, New York-based venture capital firm Insight Partners, and Bow Wave Capital, one of Mynt’s existing investors. The round also includes participation from Itai Tsiddon and Amplo Ventures as well as capital from Globe and Ayala. With the news funds, Mynt will be expanding…

CIMB Bank Philippines and Lalamove partnered up to provide easy credit access to hundreds of thousands of partner drivers through the bank’s new Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) offering, REVI Credit. This collaboration will enable Lalamove partner drivers to get easy access to credit for their day-to-day needs and emergencies with a revolving credit line of up to PHP 250,000. Through REVI Credit, qualified Lalamove partner drivers are given more flexibility over how to access, as well as use, the credit given to them. They can easily pay for bills and, soon, online goods upfront on credit and pay over…

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) now supports Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) full roll out of the Person-to-Merchant (P2M) payment option for the national quick response standard, QR Ph. RCBC is one of the first participating banks and electronic money issuers during the preliminary rollout of QR Ph P2M following the pilot P2P rollout that was held last April. BSP and the Philippine Payments Management, Inc. (PMMI) launched QR Ph P2M, which expands its use case to include more banks and electronic money issuers (EMI). Users only need to scan the QR code using their mobile banking or e-wallet app…