Philippines’ mobile wallet GCash will be waiving the QRPh transaction fees or merchant discount rates (MDRs) for micro-merchants using the scan-to-pay service until the end of 2023 according to a report by the Manila Bulletin. GCash’s scan-to-pay service enables merchants to track payments efficiently without any added cost to their customers. This move was intended to encourage micro-merchants such as sari-sari store owners, public market vendors and small online sellers to embrace digitalisation. Additionally, these merchants will also have an expanded wallet limit of up to PHP 500,000 per month. On top of that, a 1.5 percent transaction fee will…

​The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will be retaining the cap on credit card transactions at 3% per month or 36% per year. The maximum add-on rate on installment loans will also stay at 1% per month. Meanwhile, the maximum processing fee for cash advances will remain at PHP200 per transaction. These limits will be reviewed after 6 months. BSP said that it will continue to promote digitalisation in the financial industry. This will help banks and credit card issuers improve their services and customer experience, while also reducing their operating costs. The regulator will also continue to promote financial…

Philippines rural bank Cebuana Lhuillier will be modernising its core banking platform through a partnership with banking software company Temenos. Cebuana Lhuillier Bank provides credit and savings accounts to individuals, micro, small and medium enterprises to grow their personal or business finances. With Temenos, Cebuana Lhuillier Bank aims to expand its personalised product offerings including new lending products such as motorcycle loans and grow from 7 million to more than 11 million customers over five years. The solution will be implemented by Temenos’ delivery partner, Orion Innovation. The Temenos solution also assists the bank to adapt more easily to changing…

​The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced that it has joined the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). Developed in 2015, the PRI is a global network of public and private institutions committed to incorporating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations into their investment practices. By signing the PRI, investors commit to integrating ESG issues into their policies, where consistent with their fiduciary responsibilities. BSP said that this will allow it to deepen its understanding of responsible investing, enhance the inclusion of ESG factors into the overall investment process and decision-making. The regulator added that it will also be…

Atome Financial and HSBC Singapore have renewed and expanded their debt facility agreement. The new agreement includes the Philippines market and new consumer financing products. This is an expansion of the original agreement in August 2022. Through this agreement, HSBC provides flexible, scaleable and pan-regional financing solution to support Atome Financial’s business expansion. Atome Financial is an umbrella business unit made up of two brands; buy now pay later platform Atome as well as digital lending platform Kredit Pintar in Indonesia. The fintech company claims to have over 40 million app downloads and disbursed more than US$4 billion in loans.…

The Alibaba Cloud Summit Philippines 2023 is set to kick off this 12 September at Grand Hyatt Manila, presenting attendees an opportunity to delve into the realm of cloud technology and foster invaluable connections among like-minded professionals. A live stream option is also available. The half-day summit is poised to deliver actionable insights through a robust lineup of industry-driven content, cloud trends, and keynote speeches by Alibaba Cloud’s experts and industry leaders including DICT, KPMG, Kumu, and Fortinet, among others. By participating in this summit, attendees can anticipate gaining a profound understanding of the diverse spectrum of cloud technologies and…

Philippines fintech firm One Alliance Lending joins the growing number of local financial institutions to leverage FinScore’s alternative credit scoring to make loans more accessible to more Filipino SMEs. Powered by FinScore’s telco data and advanced analytics, One Alliance Lending offers secured business loans aimed at helping small-scale businesses recover from the effects of the pandemic, while also fostering growth and propelling them toward the realisation of their business goals. Through this partnership, One Alliance Lending is able to provide businesses with a rapid and streamlined loan approval process that takes anywhere from 24 to 48 hours, ensuring that businesses…

UBX, a UnionBank of the Philippines’ spin off that offers an open finance platform, has partnered with Netbank, a Philippines-based neobank that offers Banking-as-a-Service solutions, in a push for open and embedded finance. Through this partnership, Netbank is able to provide a range of payment and account services through UBX’s open finance platform. Currently, Netbank is already able to underwrite credit to sellers on e-commerce platforms by leveraging UBX’s platform. Netbank, by working with UBX’s lending platform SeekCap, gets access to detailed sales and performance data of sellers, which powers the provisioning of unsecured working capital loans. With a range…

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), backed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank, has launched the Open Finance PH Pilot, moving a step closer towards its ambition to leverage open banking and data sharing to advance financial inclusion and foster collaboration in the financial services industry. The initiative aims to assist the unbanked, particularly those without documentation, in building a financial profile and credit history, ultimately allowing them to gain access to loans and other financial services previously unobtainable. The central bank said in a press statement that the pilot is a voluntary undertaking of financial…

In the Philippines, changing customer behavior and evolving market dynamics in the banking sector have led to increased demand and usage of online banking services in recent years. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) deputy governor Mamerto Tangonan shared during a virtual forum in August 2022 that online transactions had increased substantially since 2019, noting that at least 56% of bank account owners applied for an online transaction in 2021, a remarkable 29 percentage point increase from the 27% in 2019. “That means more and more people are sharing the experience of online banking transactions where they can store money, move…

Business Monitor International (BMI), a research firm owned by Fitch Group that provides country risk and industry analysis, is bullish on the Philippines’ fintech sector, arguing that despite risks present in the domestic scene, including rising inflation, a weak regulatory system and low living standards, the potential for generating profits and return on investments was high and outweighed the risks. In a commentary released on July 13, 2023, the research firm looks at fundraising plans of Southeast Asian telecommunications operators Malaysia’s Axiata Group, Indonesia’s Telkom Indonesia, and the Philippines’s PLDT as they seek additional finance for their individual digital payments…

The world of business is no stranger to change. In recent years, the upheaval has been profound, sweeping across industries and borders. With the assistance of Mambu cloud-native SaaS platform and remarkable benchmarking data, financial businesses have found a way to weather uncertainty and disruption, and emerge stronger and more resilient. The years following 2020 have been marked by significant disruption, making resilience and adaptability essential for thriving in the current landscape. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation soared to 8.8% by the end of 2022 and 6.5% for the end of 2023, the highest numbers since 1982.…

Philippines digital bank Maya has signed on 2.3 million users, pulled in PHP25 billion in deposits as well as disbursed over PHP10 billion in loans as of June 2023 since its launch in April 2022, according to a report by the Manila Bulletin. Through Maya’s all-in-one app, its users can build their funds through their savings accounts while also seamlessly move their money to their e-wallet whenever they need to make a transaction or to buy and sell crypto. Maya had also introduced a daily interest crediting for Maya Save, allowing its customers to see their earnings reflected daily in…

In the Philippines, the fintech sector has been expanding at an unparalleled rate, transforming how individuals and companies handle financial dealings, as evidenced in the 2023 edition of the Fintech Philippines Report, produced by Fintech News Philippines in collaboration with FinTech Alliance.ph and supported by Alibaba Cloud.  As a developing nation with a significant number of unbanked and underbanked citizens, the Philippines offers an opportune landscape for fintech solutions to narrow the financial inclusion gap and provide its people with enhanced access to financial services.  This surge is propelled by the cohesive efforts of both governmental and private entities, underpinned…

The fintech sector in the Philippines has experienced significant growth in recent years, fueled by increasing adoption of digital technology and a push for improved financial inclusion. With a population of over 110 million, a rising middle class and a large population of unbanked, the country presents a promising market for innovative fintech solutions. This has prompted the advent of a new generation of financial services providers which are leveraging technology and digital platforms to address the various financial needs and challenges existing in the country. To showcase the Philippines’ finest fintech companies, we’ve compiled a list of the top…

The INDX3 Summit, an annual gathering of the Philippines’ fintech industry’s leaders, is set to take place on 7 to 8 August 2023 at Shangri-La The Fort, Taguig City. The summit will focus on fostering the country’s thriving digital economy within the fintech sector by bridging the gap between customers and advanced technological innovations. Themed “Creating What’s Next In Digital: Dare-Drive-Defy”, the summit is being led by the Fintech Alliance.PH, a collaboration amongst strategic players in the digital finance space operating in the Philippines. Local partners include the Department of Finance, Bangko ng Sentral ng Pilipinas, Securities and Exchange Commission,…

GHL Systems, a Malaysian payment service company in the ASEAN region, has launched its micro-lending offering in the Philippines to provide small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with funds to support their cash flow and business growth. The GHL SME Loan has been approved and registered with the Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Loan applicants need to present the authorised signatory’s valid government-issued ID and there is no upfront payment required. After its successful rollout across GHL’s existing merchant base in the Philippines, the GHL SME Loan will be offered to the broader SME community nationwide by August 2023. Since…

The Union Bank of the Philippines has picked NCR Corporation’s ATM as a Service solution to streamline its self-service banking operations. By transferring the maintenance and management of its ATM fleet, comprising over 400 ATMs, to NCR, the bank aims to enhance operational efficiencies while bolstering compliance and security measures. By leveraging NCR ATM as a Service, UnionBank said that it’s customers will enjoy enhanced availability, improved uptime and expanded capabilities at their ATMs. Dennis Omila, Executive Vice President, Chief Technology and Operations Officer at UnionBank said, “We have a proven history of embracing innovation, and NCR’s ATM as a…

Remittances play a critical role in the Filipino economy and have significant social and economic impacts on the country: they help alleviate poverty, are a driving force behind the country’s economy, and help expand the financial sector and promote financial inclusion. Globally, the Philippines stands as one of the world’s top remittance recipients, with data from the World Bank showing a US$ 38 billion remittance inflow, though this contrasts with data coming from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) which shows the figure to be US$ 36 billion instead. The amount makes the Southeast Asian country the world’s fourth biggest remittance-receiving…

The Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) announced the launch of its all-in-one banking app – RCBC Pulz. Customers can open an RCBC Pulz account without a minimum balance requirement. Through is digital concierge service, users will be able to deposit or withdraw money using QR codes or reference numbers, deposit local checks just by taking a photo, and directly transfer funds locally or abroad. They will also be able to pay bills, convert purchases into installments, reload their telco SIM and gaming wallets, make toll payments, buy and sell of up to six foreign currencies in real time such as US…