Qwikcilver, a subsidiary of Pine Labs and provider of end-to-end gifting solutions, has partnered with Philippine Airlines (PAL) for its e-gift card programme. Designed in collaboration with travel technology company Amadeus, this programme will assist PAL to further enhance the customer satisfaction by allowing immediate refund vouchers in the form of travel credits. Known as Asset Manager by Qwikcilver, the programme, is a bespoke, modern solution and is completely software as a service (SaaS) based. Offering a holistic, digital, real-time, multi-currency, multi-lingual, future-ready and versatile platform, it enables airlines to manage their various commonly encountered passenger-oriented requirements. Kumar Sudarsan, President…

The banking industry is in the midst of a period of intense transformation in Southeast Asia, and indeed the world, driven in part by the pandemic, but also influenced heavily by changing consumer demand and fast-moving technological innovation. Predicting the future of banking, while never an easy task, is now more uncertain than ever, with new trends emerging regularly and regulatory changes occurring at pace. To get a clearer understanding of how Southeast Asian banks view the future of core banking within their organisations, IDC Financial Insights interviewed a number of Southeast Asian banking executives, discussing their thoughts on legacy…

GrowSari, a Philippines’ B2B e-commerce platform serving micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), has secured US$45 million in a Series C funding round from global investment firm KKR. According to GrowSari, the ongoing Series C round is significantly oversubscribed as it has drawn keen interest from new and existing investors. The round’s final composition is being wrapped up. The company said that it will be expanding into more regions across the Philippines and strengthen its financial services capabilities with the new funds. In addition to the funds raised, GrowSari will also tap into KKR’s industry, operational and financial expertise and…

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has issued guidelines on the settlement of electronic payments under the National Retail Payment System (NRPS) Framework. The settlement guidelines provide the responsibilities and minimum requirements to be adhered to by BSP-supervised financial institutions participating in the Automated Clearing Houses (ACH) established under the NRPS, namely, InstaPay and PESONet, as well as the respective Clearing Switch Operators (CSOs) of the ACHs. Key provisions include requiring clearing participants to maintain a separate demand deposit account (DDA) per settlement mechanism type. The guidelines also stipulate that CSOs implementing batch settlement of e-payments shall enable clearing participants…

CIMB Philippines announced that it has collaborated with Zoloz, an eKYC technology provider, to further strengthen its digital banking services. The bank will leverage Zoloz’s eKYC solution for frictionless user onboarding and enhanced payment experience, making financial services more accessible and inclusive to Filipinos. Zoloz’s RealID eKYC solution streamlines the whole customer identity verification process for financial institutions, eliminates paper-based procedures, and reduces the cost and time spent on manual verification. This results in a faster onboarding and an enhanced customer experience. The solution also helps financial institutions adhere to regulatory compliance with its rich AI model and comprehensive risk…

The Union Bank of the Philippines has selected METACO, a provider of security-critical software and infrastructure to the digital asset ecosystem, to implement its digital asset management services. The bank will leverage METACO Harmonize which is its digital asset orchestration system to manage its digital asset operations. METACO Harmonize enables institutions to manage a range of end-to-end digital asset use cases from cryptocurrency custody and trading to tokenisation, smart contract management and decentralised finance (DeFi). With this move, UnionBank can improve insurability with additional FIPS 140-2 Level 4 certified physical controls for managing and migrating keys, mitigate potential operational risk…

Philippines’ Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) platform BillEase announced that it has closed its Series B funding round with US$ 11 million in fresh equity. The round was led by BurdaPrincipal Investments, the growth capital arm of German media and tech company Hubert Burda Media. Other investors in the round include Centauri, a joint investment vehicle of Telkom Indonesia’s MDI Ventures and KB Investment and backer of Kredivo, 33 Capital from Singapore, and Tamaz Georgadze, CEO and Co-Founder of European fintech unicorn Raisin DS, European marketplace for online deposits and investments. BillEase said that the fresh funds will be used…

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has granted Investree Philippines a permanent license to operate as a crowdfunding platform following a review of the company’s operations since the issuance of its provisional license in January 2021. Investree Philippines is a joint venture between Filinvest Development Corporation and Investree Singapore. It is the first crowdfunding intermediary and funding portal registered with the SEC after the rules and regulations covering crowdfunding (CF Rules) took effect in July 2019. The company operates a lending-based crowdfunding platform whose crowdfunding activities involve banks or qualified buyers as lenders, and small, medium, and emerging enterprises (SMEs)…

Philippines’ neobank Tonik announced that it is has built on Google Cloud’s advanced platform to deliver its financial services in just 10 months. The bank had leveraged Google Cloud’s expertise in scalable infrastructure, application programming interface (API) management, machine learning (ML) and data analytics. By using Google Cloud’s Apigee API Management platform, Tonik could quickly integrate its mobile app with capabilities from third-party providers to make account opening and cash deposits fast, seamless and convenient. To help Filipinos set up accounts in under five minutes, Tonik interoperates with Daon, its partner for automated customer onboarding and biometric authentication. The neobank has…

​The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has formally launched the Open Finance Framework, which aims to promote collaborative partnerships and digital transformation as key enablers towards economic resilience and financial inclusion. Open Finance is the extension of data sharing principles, assigning greater control to customers over their own data and enabling them to allow third party providers access to their data across multiple financial products and services. This can offer both businesses and individuals better financial products and services. It also provides financial institutions the opportunity to reduce their transaction costs, as well as the ability to better tailor their…

ASEAN Fintech Group (“AFG” or the “Group”), a venture corporation that specializes in accelerating fintech adoption through accretive value has acquired JazzyPay Inc valued at US$1.8m. JazzyPay is a digital payments provider that allows businesses of various sizes and types to accept cashless payments securely and seamlessly. JazzyPay’s quick and easy onboarding process enables merchants to swiftly adopt online payments, integrating its payments gateway into the merchant’s business processes. The acquisition builds on AFG’s vision to create a regional omnichannel platform in the fintech space. Following this, AFG’s 2022 plans include expansion into Vietnam and Cambodia. With the acquisition, AFG…

Fintech News Philippines would like to take this opportunity to wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. We will be taking a break from the 23rd December 2021 to the 2nd January 2022. Until then, you can access some of our year-end articles that may be of interest to you. We look forward to seeing you all again on the 3rd January 2021! https://fintechnews.ph/54878/fintechphilippines/fintech-in-the-philippines-2021-in-review/ https://fintechnews.ph/54791/fintechphilippines/fintech-philippines-report-2022-highlights-the-rise-of-crypto-and-advent-of-digibanks/ https://fintechnews.ph/54186/virtual-banking/bsp-will-no-longer-be-accepting-digital-bank-applications/ https://fintechnews.ph/45403/security/philippines-must-not-overlook-fraud-prevention-in-its-financial-inclusion-journey/ https://fintechnews.ph/54756/fintech/philippines-new-generation-of-startups-will-boost-fintech-e-commerce-and-fintech/ https://fintechnews.ph/54607/funding/mynt-secures-us300-million-in-funding-doubling-its-valuation-to-us2-billion/ https://fintechnews.ph/54362/virtual-banking/how-will-branch-banking-evolve-in-the-digital-age/ https://fintechnews.ph/54510/payments/bsp-fully-rolls-out-person-to-merchant-qr-code-system/ https://fintechnews.ph/54551/e-wallet/mynt-emerges-as-lone-filipino-startup-on-credit-suisses-asean-unicorn-list/ https://fintechnews.ph/54478/digital-payments/how-is-the-philippines-gearing-up-to-be-a-digital-heavy-and-cash-light-society/

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…