The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has partnered with KasKasan Buddies (KKB) to expand access to financial education, as reported by the Philippine Information Agency. The collaboration formally launched on 4 August at the BSP Head Office in Manila. It plans to bring content from BSP’s financial education platform, PisoLit, to KKB’s community. KKB is an online community focused on discussions around responsible credit card use, scam prevention, and everyday financial concerns. Through the partnership, BSP and KKB will jointly develop and feature educational content. The content will cover budgeting, saving, responsible credit use, scam awareness, cybersecurity, and consumer protection, the…

GCash is reviewing its accessibility features after a consultation with visually impaired users surfaced ongoing difficulties navigating the app independently, as reported by Manila Bulletin. The company convened members of the visually impaired community through an online consultation to identify gaps in the app’s accessibility. Luis Miguel Ereneta, GCash Head of App Governance and Modernisation,  said the platform already includes several accessibility features, including biometric login, standardised font usage, colour contrast adjustments, Tap to Pay, and SoundPay. He said the challenge lies in balancing these features with stronger security, since some safety measures can inadvertently make the app harder for…

Mastercard has confirmed support for Apple Pay in the Philippines, joining Visa’s own confirmation of the launch the same day. Jason Crasto, Mastercard’s Country Manager for the Philippines, announced the news on LinkedIn, thanking the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Apple, and issuing partners Metrobank, UnionBank, and Chinabank for making the launch possible. Crasto said the launch gives Mastercard cardholders another trusted way to pay, whether shopping in-store, checking out online, or paying within apps, expanding consumer choice without compromising on security. “At Mastercard, we know that trust is built over time,” he said, pointing to Apple’s decades of building everyday…

Apple Pay has officially launched in the Philippines, Visa confirmed in a newsroom announcement dated 4 August. Visa debit and credit cardholders can now add eligible cards to Apple Pay on iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac, confirming what users had been reporting anecdotally since the previous day. The rollout starts with support from GoTyme Bank, Metrobank, UnionBank, and China Bank. GoTyme supports eligible Visa debit cards at launch, while Metrobank, UnionBank, and China Bank support eligible Visa and Mastercard debit and credit cards. Apple said more banks are expected to support the service over time. At launch, retailers and…

For the first time, more than half of TNG Digital’s revenue comes from outside payments. So what is Malaysia’s largest e-wallet actually turning into? Alan Ni joined FNN to answer that. He was employee number three at TNG Digital and now runs it as CEO, growing the business from a toll-and-parking wallet into a platform with more than 26 million verified users. In 2025 the company delivered its first full year of profit and became Malaysia’s first fintech unicorn. We got into how the business changed, where the growth is really coming from, and a few things that surprised us.…

The bank of 2030 will not be built around branches, fragmented services or siloed channels. It will need to fit into how people actually live, spend, save and make financial decisions. The decisions leaders make today will shape whether their banks stay relevant by the end of the decade. This session looks at what leading banks are building now, and what needs to change. This webinar will bring together thought leaders to explore: What will customers expect by 2030, and where do banks still fall short? Where can AI make banking more personal and responsive when customers need it most?…

Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) now lets customers open an account without presenting a physical national ID card. The state-owned bank rolled out a new identity verification feature powered by the National ID system, letting customers verify their identity through facial biometric authentication linked to the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) National ID Authentication Services (NIDAS). Customers can open an account online through LandBank’s Mobile Banking App or at any of its 616 branches nationwide, where staff can assist with the facial biometric verification step. The feature is designed to speed up account opening, particularly for people who may not…

Atome Philippines has partnered with Electronic Commerce Payments, Inc. (ECPay) to let Atome Cardholders top up Smart, Globe, and DITO prepaid mobile load directly within the Atome app, paid for with their Atome Card. The integration adds mobile load to a list of everyday expenses Atome customers already pay for through the app, including groceries, utility bills, and household essentials. Atome has issued more than 3 million cards in the Philippines, with 65% of cardholders women and 80% first-time cardholders. The company said groceries, food, household items, and utility bills remain the top use cases for the card. “Mobile load…

Some bank cards can now be added to Apple Wallet in the Philippines, according to a post from the Facebook community page Digital Banks PH. The page said it tested and successfully added a GoTyme Bank card to Wallet, calling it a sign that support for local bank-issued cards is starting to roll out. It’s not yet clear whether users can actually make payments with these cards through Apple Pay, only that the card-adding step now works for some users. Neither Apple nor any bank has officially confirmed a launch as of writing. Users can check by opening the Wallet…

GCash will soon let users link their Visa or Mastercard debit and credit cards directly to their accounts as a payment source for transactions, according to an announcement from Mynt’s newsroom. Set to roll out within August, the feature will enable in-store purchases even when a user’s GCash wallet balance is low or empty, removing the need to cash in first. Users will be able to link up to three Visa or Mastercard debit or credit cards to their GCash account, set a default payment card, and manage or unlink cards directly within the app. Card linking will be authenticated…

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) has extended its “Piso Fare” promo, letting MySSS Cardholders continue paying just Php 1.00 to ride LRT-2 until 31 August. RCBC extended the promo to encourage greater adoption of digital fare payments among Filipino commuters, as more of them rely on public transit for their daily commute across Metro Manila. The promo follows the launch of LRT-2’s Automated Fare Collection System, developed by RCBC with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), in collaboration with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and Visa. “We are grateful to RCBC and SSS, as…

Skyro has posted its first-ever half-year operating profit in the Philippines, just over three years after launching in the country in 2022. The digital consumer finance group’s credit portfolio has grown almost eightfold since the end of 2023, while revenue has tripled year-over-year since launch. The company disbursed nearly US$180 million in loans in the first half of 2026 alone, 1.9 times the amount disbursed a year earlier. The Skyro app’s user base grew to more than 7 million users, and by the end of the second quarter, the platform had processed 2 million total product loan transactions through its…

RCBC has partnered with Raquel Pawnshop to deploy ATM Go terminals across the pawnshop’s branch network, extending the bank’s agency banking reach to more Filipino communities. The deal brings RCBC ATM Go, the bank’s dual-SIM mobile point-of-sale ATM network already active across all 82 Philippine provinces, into Raquel Pawnshop’s 154 branches nationwide. Through those branches, customers can access cash withdrawals, deposits, bills payment, remittances, and other digital financial transactions. Customers of participating banks, digital banks, and e-wallets can also make QR Ph-enabled withdrawals by scanning a code at RCBC ATM Go terminals. RCBC Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation and…

Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has partnered with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to let customers open accounts using just a selfie, provided they already hold a National ID, as reported by GMA News. BPI has formally adopted the National ID Authentication Services (NIDAS), removing the need to upload a physical ID when opening a new account through the bank’s mobile app. Under the partnership, BPI accounts can be linked to a uniquely verified individual through the government-backed ID system, which the bank said reduces the risk of fake account creation. “At BPI, we believe that financial inclusion begins…

A bill filed in the House of Representatives seeks to establish the Philippines’ first legal framework for consumer-directed financial data sharing, letting everyday digital transactions count as proof of creditworthiness. House Bill No. 9149, the Open Finance and Consumer Data Empowerment Act of 2025, aims to close the gap between how Filipinos actually participate in the digital economy and how formal lenders assess their credit risk. Under the bill, consumers would gain the legal right to authorise accredited lenders and financial service providers to access up to 24 months of their financial and transactional data, including alternative sources such as…

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched VERITAS, a blockchain-based platform for digital signing and authenticating SEC-related documents. Issued as SEC Memorandum Circular No. 23, Series of 2026, and signed by Chairperson Francisco Ed. Lim on 27 July, the guidelines integrate VERITAS into the Commission’s existing eSECURE and eSAP platforms. VERITAS lets credentialed eSECURE users, including incorporators, directors, officers, and authorised representatives, digitally sign documents using public-key cryptography. Each signing event is hashed, recorded on a blockchain, and timestamped, creating a tamper-evident audit trail. Users must first complete eSECURE credentialing, which requires verified government ID and a liveness detection…

Netbank has partnered with Atome Philippines to offer Atome Savings, a PDIC-insured savings account built directly into the Atome app, as announced on Netbank’s website. The account runs on Netbank’s white-label banking infrastructure, aiming to extend regulated savings access to unbanked and underbanked Filipinos. Atome Savings offers 3.25% interest per annum, credited daily, with no minimum balance and no lock-in period. Deposits are PDIC-insured up to PHP 1 million per depositor. The product has been available to Atome users on a phased, invite-only basis since mid-2025. This partnership marks its fuller rollout across the app. Christian Quiros, President and Country…

CashKO, the microinsurance arm of Philippine insurtech company RuralNet, now covers more than 6.1 million underserved Filipinos across 81 provinces. The company built its “made-to-measure” model to shield low-income families from medical poverty, structuring coverage around final medical liabilities and funeral expenses, the moments when terminal illness can drain a family’s savings before a loss even occurs. The push addresses a wide protection gap in the Philippines. About 67% of adult Filipinos rank staying healthy as their most urgent personal concern, ahead of economic worries, according to an OCTA Research survey. Yet national insurance penetration remains at just 2%, leaving…

Online lending platforms promise approvals in minutes. The pitch is speed: fast application, fast decision, fast disbursement. But the data informing that decision has rarely been fast. Most lenders, digital or otherwise, have relied on bureau queries that reflect repayment behaviour from weeks or months ago, or on internal records alone. For short-term lenders operating at speed, that lag is structural: the fastest decisions are being made with the slowest data. There is a second problem, running parallel. Borrowers who use short-term online cash loans as their entry point into formal credit often repay perfectly and benefit little from it.…

BlockShoals Technologies has joined Fintech Alliance PH, as the company works toward launching Binance’s crypto services in the country within the year. BlockShoals operates as the SEC-approved Crypto Asset Intermediary through which Binance products are made available locally, under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Strategic Regulatory Sandbox (StratBox) framework. Fintech Alliance PH counts more than 100 corporate members, together accounting for more than 95% of the country’s digital retail financial transaction volume. The organisation pioneered an industry-led Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics in Asia and continues to advise regulators and policymakers on inclusive digital finance. “Our vision is…