FinScore, a Philippines’ alternative credit scoring provider, has achieved a significant milestone by delivering 15 million total credit scores. This highlights the growing adoption of FinScore’s services among banks and lending companies, as they strive to expand credit access for underbanked individuals in the Philippines. Traditionally, financial institutions can only cater to individuals who have pre-existing banking relationships, leaving the underbanked population with limited or no access to credit. Christo Georgiev, the Country Manager and COO of FinScore, emphasised the company’s mission to enhance financial services in the country and support the empowerment of its citizens. “In developing countries like…

Pilon, a Singapore-headquartered fintech firm that offers cloud-based supply chain financing system, has secured a top-up round from Filipino venture firm Kaya Founders. The sum was not disclosed. The fintech had previously raised US$5.2 million in both debt and equity during a seed funding round led by Wavemaker Partners with participation from Octava and Polaris Kin. The additional funding will be used to accelerate Pilon’s growth plans and strengthen its presence in the Philippines market. Eddie Lee, Co-founder and CEO of Pilon stated, “This investment is an important milestone for Pilon because it not only strengthens our financial position but…

The costs and complexity of legacy banking technology have firmly established the need for financial institutions to modernise their systems. Banks must move away from legacy infrastructure that constrains innovation and prevents them from providing the real-time, personalised banking experiences that customers have come to expect. Banks can unlock greater flexibility, enhanced resilience, and lower operational costs by moving core technology into the cloud. In the past, banks may have adopted a big bang migration approach to move to a new core platform. This would entail a single migration phase in which all product data was extracted, transformed and loaded…

Netbank, a Banking as a Service (BaaS) platform, has launched a solution that allows international remittance companies to facilitate cross border payments into the Philippines. Through this new solution, Netbank provides a dedicated bank account for international remittance companies to facilitate inbound transactions from overseas and local disbursements into different bank accounts and wallets. Netbank has already partnered with TransferGo, a global payment service provider registered in the United Kingdom, for this solution. TransferGo was able to facilitate inbound transactions in GBP and USD from overseas and was able to disburse PHP into different local bank accounts and wallets via…

In today’s rapidly evolving economic environment, businesses need to be able to adapt quickly to changing market and consumer demands. This is especially true for traditional banks and financial institutions experiencing pressure to offer the same level of agility as their digital competitors. The use of next-gen cloud native platforms is not exclusive to fintechs or neobanks – traditional banks can also harness these super agile platforms to supercharge operational agility and ensure there is no disconnect between front and back-end systems. Across the globe, banks are choosing to migrate and gain an advantage with Mambu’s SaaS cloud native core,…

Philippines’ digital bank Tonik announced that it has onboarded over one million customers since its inception. Tonik said that its seamless onboarding process, wide range of financial products, and innovative services have played a significant role in driving its growth. Since its launch, Tonik has aimed to provide Filipinos, particularly those previously underserved by traditional banking institutions, with accessible, secure, and user-friendly digital banking services. The digital bank added that it will continue to innovate and enhance its digital offerings to better serve the diverse needs of the Philippine market. “We are thrilled to celebrate this momentous milestone, as it…

In the Philippines, digital banking challengers are making competitive strides against traditional banks, luring customers with high-yield savings accounts and term deposit products that pay up to 10% per annum (p.a.). The figure represents more than double the national average annual percentage rate of 3.68-5.14%, according to data from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) deputy governor Francisco Dakila Jr. An analysis by Digital Banks PH, a news aggregator and Facebook community, found that among the 13 highest yield savings accounts in the Philippines, eight are provided by new digital challengers. Maya Bank Maya Bank, a licensed digital bank owned by…

The banking sector has undergone a significant transformation thanks to the introduction of cloud and open-source technologies. Previously, banks relied on legacy systems and proprietary software, resulting in operations being siloed, scalability being limited, and high costs. However, with the advent of cloud and open-source technologies, banks can adopt a more agile and collaborative approach to innovation. In an interview, Jimmy Ng, Chief Information Officer and Group Head of Technology and Operations at DBS, and Marjet Andriesse, Senior Vice President (SVP) and General Manager of Asia Pacific Japan and China at Red Hat, delved into the role of cloud and…

Philippines UNO Digital Bank has partnered with 1Sari Financing Corporation to support the growth of sari-sari store owners and micro-enterprises that play a crucial role in the country’s economy. These store owners face challenges in expanding due to a lack of capital, and the collaboration aims to provide financial solutions to help them thrive. The partnership will offer various loan options, including general-purpose loans, inventory financing loans, and working capital loans, catering to salaried individuals and self-employed entrepreneurs. UNO Digital Bank’s lending strategy will focus on inventory financing. “SMEs are a major driver of the Philippine economy. This partnership with…

Fintech Alliance.PH, the country’s largest association of fintech and digital players, had launched a multistakeholder national cybersecurity awareness and education campaign. The campaign with the aim to educate millions of smartphone and online users against phishing scams had kicked off on 29 May 2023 at Shangri La The Fort in Taguig City. The industry-led multi stakeholder national consumer cybersecurity campaign is being led by the Fintech Alliance in partnership with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine National Police, Anti-Money Laundering Council, Securities and Exchange Commission, Insurance Commission, National Privacy Commission, National Telecommunications Commission, Department of…

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and BDO Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of BDO Unibank, will jointly develop a free online course on financial education. BSP and BDO Foundation will work on the rollout of a nine-module interactive online course on personal finance dubbed “FinEd e-Learning Course”. The course will feature topics such as financial planning, saving and budgeting, debt and investment management, digital financial literacy, fraud and scam prevention, the Personal Equity and Retirement Account, and financial consumer protection. It aims to expand the coverage and accelerate the implementation of financial education programmes in the country through…

The Philippines’ National Privacy Commission (NPC) concluded that the recent unauthorised deductions from multiple accounts from mobile wallet GCash amounting to PHP 37 million (approximately US$660,000) was the result of a phishing incident. This echoes what the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) Governor Felipe Medalla shared with reporters on the sidelines of the 23rd Financial Stability Board-Regional Consultative Group in Asia Meeting in Cebu. On 9 May 2023, the NPC had conducted an independent investigation to ascertain the extent of the alleged unauthorised transactions and determine if there is a possible compromise of personal data and other potential violations of…

Online money transfer service Wise announced that its users can now send up to PHP 9 million (approximately US$161,000) to the Philippines. This is almost 18 times more than what they could send previously. Users can send PHP to any individual and business bank accounts in Philippines. They can also send it to popular e-wallets such as GCash, PayMaya, GrabPay, Starpay, Bayad Wallet, TayoCash, ShopeePay, and JuanCash. While the limit for bank account transfers are at PHP 9 million, the transfer limit for e-wallets are at PHP 50,000 (approximately US$890). It usually takes 1–2 working days for the funds to arrive…

Netbank, a Philippines-based neobank that offers Banking-as-a-Service solutions, announced that it has closed its Series A funding round. The investment sum was not disclosed. The round was led by regional venture capital firm Beenext with participation from Kaya Founders and Oak Drive Ventures Inc. as well as individual investors. The funds will be used to expand its product suite with enhanced payments, accounts and lending solutions for Netbank’s client base comprising lenders, e-commerce platforms, payment companies and corporates. With its rural bank license, Netbank provides banking services on a fully white-labelled basis so that Filipino fintechs can accelerate their growth…

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) Governor Felipe Medalla said that the recent unauthorised deductions from mobile wallet GCash amounting to PHP 37 million (approximately US$660,000) was the result of a phishing incident and not hacking, according to a report by Philstar Global. Medalla echoed the claims made by GCash which denied that it was a hacking incident and went on to adjust the funds that were lost from its users. The governor spoke to reporters on the sidelines of the 23rd Financial Stability Board-Regional Consultative Group in Asia Meeting in Cebu that the incident occurred when the affected users…

Grab Philippines is reportedly in the midst of issuing refunds of PHP 6.7 million (US$ 118,500) to its users following the Philippine Competition Commission’s (PCC) orders to do so, according to the Manilla Bulletin. The e-hailing app needs to disburse refunds totaling PHP 25.4 million (US$ 452, 000). The PCC has imposed an additional PHP 9 million fine for its failure to fully refund its customers more than three years after it was first ordered to do so. Grab has already refunded PHP 18.78 million to its users which is 73.8 percent of the PHP 25.4 million that the e-hailing…

The economy in the Philippines is expanding at record speed, and its dynamic population – young, growing, and savvy at using mobile technologies – is set to become the key benefactor of the economic opportunities it creates, with a little help from financial institutions. Yet recent data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reveals that only 56 percent of adults in the Philippines have bank accounts. This means that more than 30 million Filipinos cannot access essential financial products, such as loans, savings accounts, and insurance. However, modern fintechs like Salmon are beginning to change this. There are many…

BillEase, a consumer finance app offering BNPL, is now available as a payment option on online travel platform Agoda to give Filipino travelers more flexibility to pay in installments without a credit card. This integration is enabled by Alipay+, a global cross-border digital payments and marketing solution operated by Ant Group. By selecting BillEase as a checkout option on both Agoda’s web and app platforms, travelers can split the total cost of purchases into either bi-weekly or monthly payments with up to 12 months of installments. Earlier this year, BillEase and Alipay+ announced their partnership to enable local customers in…

The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has imposed another PHP 9 million (approximately US$160,000) fine on Grab Philippines for its failure to fully refund its customers more than three years after it was first ordered to do so. The latest fine is on top of the PHP 63.7 million (approximately US$1.13 million) in penalties that the PCC had imposed on Grab over the years since it acquired the Philippine operations from its then rival Uber in 2018. In a resolution on February 2023, the PCC imposed a six-million peso fine on Grab for violating three separate Commission orders for the company…

Manila-based LF Lending Services is on the verge of digital transformation, starting with the integration of telco data into existing credit decisioning models. Unique insights from telco data allow LF Lending to predict repayment behaviors with improved speed and accuracy. Telco data, as supplied by alternative data aggregator FinScore, serves as proof of creditworthiness for thin-file borrowers who may not have a bank account or credit history. FinScore Country Manager Christo Georgiev champions telco data saying, “It acts as a reliable basis for financial institutions to finally serve the underbanked credit market.” He continues: “Most people who seek LF Lending’s…