Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation’s (RCBC) ATM Go has enabled cardless withdrawal for mobile point-of-sale terminals (mPOS) as part of its financial inclusion efforts. Aside from the regular ATM services that requires a card, ATM Go can now process cardless withdrawals via RCBC’s mobile apps. Transactions can be initiated via the RCBC app or through its DiskarTech financial inclusion app. Customers will need to log into either one of these apps and choose the cash withdrawal option in order to initiate the transaction. A reference number and OTP will be sent to the user which they will then use to withdraw…

Banking as a service platform Netbank has partnered with Indonesian SME lender Investree to expand loan offerings to SMEs in the Philippines. Investree Philippines aims to address the largely underserved US$200+ billion MSME credit gap in the Philippines by connecting SMEs with institutional investors through its marketplace platform. Both entities are collaborating to provide account opening services will allow Investree’s clients to finance their trade receivables, giving them vital cash to accelerate their growth. Investree Philippines is a fintech-based joint venture company between the Gotianun-led Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC) and Investree Singapore that received approval from the Philippines’ Securities and…

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is awaiting a nod from regulators to start cryptocurrency trading, CNN has reported. PSE President and CEO Ramon Monzon believes that the bourse is ideal for crypto trading owing to its existing trading infrastructure and customer safeguard measures. He told CNN, “If there should be any exchange for cryptos, it should be done at the PSE. Why? Number one, it’s because we have the trading infrastructure. But more importantly, we’ll be able to have investor protection safeguards especially with a product like crypto.” Over the past few years the Philippine central bank, Bangko Sentral ng…

The Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMBC), a Japanese multinational banking and financial services institution, announced that it is set to acquire a 4.99% stake in the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) in a deal worth US$90.5 million (JPY 10 billion). This move is part of SMBC’s strategy to expand its franchise and strengthen digital banking in Asia. Eugene Acevedo, President, and CEO of RCBC, confirmed with the press that they intend to set up a digital banking arm and double down on tech investments with this capital injection. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has so far granted three digital…

Philippines digital and financial services firm Voyager Innovations announced that it raised US$167 million through its financial technology arm, PayMaya Philippines. This investment includes US$121 million in fresh funding and US$46 million from previously committed funds. Participating in the funding were existing shareholders Philippines telecoms PLDT, global investment firm KKR, and Chinese tech firm Tencent. Voyager welcomed IFC Financial Institutions Growth Fund, a fund managed by the IFC Asset Management Company (IFC AMC), as a new investor. IFC AMC is a division of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and an existing investor in…

Netbank announced that it will join the Mastercard Fintech Express programme which gives it access to a vast range of the latter’s digital-first products and enabling it to issue debit and credit cards under its partners’ brands. Through the initiative, fintechs are offered access to a suite of digital products to differentiate their offerings, as well as flexible commercial agreements for early growth stages to reduce barriers to entry. Mastercard also provides global licensing support with in-market teams to facilitate the acceleration of fintechs’ growth and expansion. Mastercard Fintech Express is a key pillar under Mastercard Accelerate, a fintech platform…

The Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) has rolled out an enabling digitalisation initiative with a new partnership with the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) for the SynerFi Open Finance Network. This move comes days after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) released its Open Finance Framework. The BSP’s Open Finance Framework’s main premise is consent-driven data portability, interoperability and collaborative partnerships between financial institutions and fintech players. Through the SynerFi (Synergy in Finance) Open Finance Network, member banks of the RBAP and eventually, cooperatives, microfinance institutions, and other industry players will be able to set up their own…

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has issued a circular to put a stop to any entities that are misrepresenting themselves as digital banks in their marketing activities. While BSP has only recently granted its first batch of licenses, several entities have been seen posing as digital banks despite operating under a different license to mislead the public. These entities were warned against misrepresenting the public with respect to their banking categories or the products and services that they have been authorised to offer. In the circular to amend the rules and regulations governing bank advertisements, these entities were told…

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has granted the third digital bank license to Singapore headquartered fintech DigibankASIA, one of the primary incorporators of UNObank. In the past few months, BSP has granted the other two licenses to state-owned Overseas Filipino Bank (OFBank) which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the LANDBANK in March and another to Tonik. UNObank will be helmed by Manish Bhai as CEO, a career banker and tech entrepreneur. Co-founder Kalidas Ghose is a recognised fintech influencer who led the effort to build FE Credit in Vietnam from scratch and created VP Banks digital bank ecosystem.…

Neobank Tonik announced that it has secured a digital bank license from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as it has been operating under a rural banking license since 2019. A year later, BSP had issued a framework on the establishment of digital banks, clearing the way for Tonik to scale up and apply for a formal digital bank license. State-owned Overseas Filipino Bank (OFBank) which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the LANDBANK was the first digital only bank to be granted a license in March by the Philippines central bank. The development comes after the neobank’s public launch…

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation’s (RCBC) financial inclusion super app DiskarTech is gaining ground as a preferred disbursement platform of Filipinos for social aid, loans proceeds, dividends, and other digital payments. Since the start of community quarantines in March 2020, RCBC has also disbursed P14.8 billion in government aid subsidy of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Labor and Employment to over 4.11 million households or over 20.56 individuals. In the last two months, DiskarTech averaged 83% in month-on-month growth in volume of received funds from Social Security System (SSS). Value of cash disbursements by the…

Philippines’ health maintenance organisation (HMO) Asalus Corporation which operates under the trade name Intellicare, partnered with Union Bank of the Philippines for ePaycard Digital Account Opening (eDAO). This helps to speed up the disbursement of professional fees, benefits, and other reimbursements for affiliated doctors. UnionBank offers an account opening facility that is efficient, paperless, and with a fully digital disbursement solution for the convenience of Intellicare affiliated doctors. To facilitate the opening of their accounts, the doctors will receive an SMS with a unique reference code which will be used to continue the application via the UnionBank app. Account opening…

Netbank, a banking as a service platform in the Philippines, has been launched by an experienced team of international and Filipino bankers. Much like its counterpart Tonik, Netbank is a fully regulated bank operating under a rural banking license. The platform is already in operation, booking loans originated by 3 alternative lenders. It has also built the infrastructure needed to provide a full range of banking services, using AWS to run its core banking system. Netbank provides simple, creative, low cost solutions so that fintech startups can open accounts, offer loans and manage payments. The bank announced plans to add…

The Fintech Alliance.PH and Fintech Philippines Association (FPH) introduced the Philippines Fintech Industry Sandbox pilot which was first announced during the Singapore Fintech Festival 2020. The sandbox pilot initiative is supported by the UK’s ASEAN Economic Reform Programme (ASEAN ERP) and was inspired by the UK Innovate Finance’s Industry Sandbox Consultative Report. The Philippines Fintech Industry Sandbox is hosted on the API Exchange (APIX) platform, a cloud-based open architecture API marketplace, developed by the ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN). This initiative includes close coordination with key stakeholders including the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), APIX, Rural and Thrift Banks of…

Komo, a digital banking service created by EastWest Bank, has partnered with open banking solution provider Brankas to enable instant in-app deposits. With this partnership, Komo users can now instantly top-up their balance directly from the app. In order to do so, users can enter the amount they wish to top-up and select a source bank through Brankas’ secure SDK flow to deposit money to their Komo account. Through Brankas’ secure fund transfer APIs and extensive bank integration suite, customers can receive money from their choice of Philippine banks instantly in the app. Isabelle Yap, Business Lead at Komo said,…

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) announced that it witnessed massive growth in its digital payments volume in the past year. The value of InstaPay and PESONet fund transfers of RCBC Online and its mobile banking app increased by 293% compared to figures in March 2020, which marks the start of community quarantine in the Philippines. RCBC said that this is 109% higher than reported total growth recorded for transactions of all participating banks and e-money issuers. Additionally, the volume of digital fund transfers that was handled by RCBC swelled by 329%. Another contactless solution that saw dramatic surges is the…

Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon.com company, announced that the Union Bank of the Philippines will migrate its IT infrastructure from on-premises to cloud by 2022. The migration is intended to accelerate the bank’s digital transformation, improve customers’ digital banking experiences, and strengthen financial inclusion in the Philippines by bringing financial services to remote parts of the country. UnionBank said in a statement that it will push for a cloud-only IT transformation strategy to become the first major bank in the Philippines to be fully hosted in the cloud. When the migration is complete, UnionBank will run almost 400 mission-critical…

More than 800,000 have already signed up for the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) via digital registration, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). The government is urging Filipinos to sign up for the Philippine identification (PhilID), the national ID, to eliminate inefficient and expensive process of securing physical documents. Signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte in August 2018, Republic Act 11055, or the Philippine Identification System Act, aims to establish a single national ID for all Filipinos and its residents. The national ID shall be a valid proof of identity that shall be a means of simplifying public and…

The Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) has rolled out digital onboarding for its customers to enable them to open a savings account without the need to visit a physical branch. The state-run bank launched the digital onboarding system known as DOBS Mobile on May 12, 2021, which reportedly facilitates online savings account opening in 10 to 15 minutes. Using the LANDBANK app, customers need only to fill out application forms online and upload a valid identification card such as UMID, Passport, PRC ID, SSS, company ID or even school ID to open a digital savings account. The digital bank…

As the Philippines begins awarding its first digital banking licenses, incumbents are gearing up for a new era in banking, ramping up their digital capabilities to address market shifts and changing customer expectations. During a virtual panel discussion with Fintech News, experts from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank), Bank of the Philippine Island (BPI) and Backbase discussed the imminent entrance of new digital-first players in the Filipino banking landscape, sharing insights on the latest developments and industry trends. In March, BSP granted its first digital banking license to Overseas Filipino Bank (OFBank), a wholly-owned…