The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported that more than half of the country’s adult population now owns a financial account. The 2021 Financial Inclusion Survey (FIS) conducted by BSP showed that account ownership surged to 56 percent in 2021, up from 29 percent in 2019. This increase is the highest two-year growth since the survey began in 2015. The expansion was spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating the use of digital payments. “Amid the latest figures, the BSP will continue to broaden its efforts to foster the wider adoption of digital technology, which has effectively enabled the onboarding of…

Buy Now, Pay Later firm Atome announced that it has partnered with Mastercard to roll out its Atome Card in the Philippines that can be used to pay online and in-store retailers. Consumers in the Philippines can register their interest for the Atome Card directly via the latest version of the app or through its early bird link. Selected consumers from the early bird phase will receive an email inviting them to apply for the Atome Card. According to Atome, there will be no annual fees, sign up fees or other hidden charges for the card. Users will reportedly get instant…

The total value of PESONet transactions jumped by 48.1 percent year-on-year, reaching PHP 2.9 trillion in the first half of 2022, following the rollout of the PESONet’s Multiple Batch Settlement (MBS) facility. The number of transactions processed through PESONet also increased by 28.7 percent, totaling 40.8 million during the same period. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Philippine Payments Management, Inc. (PPMI) launched the MBS in January this year to increase the frequency of PESONet settlements from once to twice a day. Settlements are done at 10 AM and 4 PM on weekdays. The PESONet MBS increased the…

Unionbank of the Philippines announced that it has partnered with Swiss core banking solution provider Avaloq to transform its wealth management business. The Avaloq Core Platform aims to support UnionBank in offering its clients access to holistic wealth management services, such as family wealth structuring, philanthropy and sustainability advice as well as professional succession planning. With the introduction of the Avaloq Core Platform, UnionBank can seamlessly automate and standardise aspects of the front, middle, and back office of its wealth management functions, such as client relationship management, compliance, and payment processing. Following UnionBank’s recent acquisition of Citi’s Consumer Business in…

Philippines’ mobile wallet GCash announced that its users will be able to pay their bills via its digital micro-lending facility GCredit. GCredit is only available for fully-verified users who have enough GScore, a trust score based on a GCash user’s activity, such as maintaining a GCash balance, regular cash-in and cash-out, paying bills, sending money and paying for online purchases through GCash. GCash has expanded its network of billers to over 1,600 partners, allowing consumers to settle multiple billers without leaving the app. Basic utilities, such as electricity, water, cable TV, internet, and telecom services, can all be paid through…

Union Bank of the Philippines announced that it is set to offer virtual asset exchange services through its mobile banking app. The bank said that it is the first universal banking entity in the country to offer this service. Through this new feature, customers can now purchase and sell Bitcoin (BTC) directly from the UnionBank app without the need for a third-party virtual asset wallet. The new feature will be offered to a select group of UnionBank customers, who will be able to see the Virtual Asset functionality in their app. The launch is in compliance with the Bangko Sentral…

Philippines’ mobile wallet GCash has reached 66 million registered users as of June 2022 according to President and CEO Martha Sazon during the Mobile 360 Asia Pacific Fintech Summit held in Singapore. During the summit, Martha shared how collaborations with banks and other fintech providers have helped GCash maintain a strong growth momentum amid the pandemic which has enabled it to add six million users from the first quarter to 66 million at the end of the second quarter of 2022. “We’re not a digital bank. We are an e-wallet. But what’s good about that is we’re able to partner…

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced that it will no longer be accepting applications for new Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) licenses for the next three years starting 1 September 2o22. The central bank said that this will be subject to re-assessment based on market developments. According to the memorandum by Deputy Governor Chuchi G. Fonacier, applications that have completed or passed Stage 2 of the licensing process on or before 31 August 2022 will be processed and assessed for completeness and sufficiency of documentation and information submitted. BSP will also look into the compliance with the licensing criteria…

Southeast Asian regtech firm Tookitaki announced its launch in the Philippines through a partnership with local payment gateway company Paymongo. Tookitaki is headquartered in Singapore and provides end-to-end financial crime solutions to several leading financial institutions. Ahead of its local launch, Tookitaki had partnered with PayMongo to offer safer and more secure transactions for the platform’s over 47 million users and over 10,000 partner merchants. Earlier this year, global cross-border payments firm Thunes took a majority stake in Tookitaki with the aim to deepen the regtech’s presence in core APAC markets, including the Philippines. Setting up its Philippine office in…

The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has cautioned the public to not invest in global cryptocurrency exchange Binance in a response to a whistleblower report from public policy think tank Infrawatch. On 25 July, Infrawatch beseeched the SEC to conduct an investigation on Binance, an unregistered entity in the Philippines, which had reportedly been offering its services in the country for several years already. According to the think tank, Binance already has 3.4 million users in the Philippines despite not having an office there. The crypto exchange has worked with third-part companies that employs locals for its technical and customer…

Philippines digital bank Tonik announced that it has integrated InstaPay services on its mobile app to enable real-time fund transfers. Tonik said in a statement that it is the first licensed digital bank in the country to fully implement InstaPay services. Customers can now send and receive real-time transactions for up to PHP 50,000 to and from participating banks and electronic money issuers with no added transfer fees from Tonik. However, other banks may have varied transaction fees for InstaPay top-ups. Tonik is supervised by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and its deposits are insured by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) for…

In Asia, bigtechs and new digital banking challengers are rapidly gaining ground, forcing incumbent banks to rethink their business strategy and become a part of the super-app ecosystem, a new report by Finextra, in association with Infosys Finacle and OneSpan, says. The paper, titled The Future of Digital Banking in Asia 2022, explores Asia’s booming digital banking ecosystem and highlights emerging trends. Asia has emerged as the leader in banking innovation these past couple of years, a trend driven by the region’s large population of unbanked, demand for inclusive and accessible banking services, and rising Internet penetration. In Asia Pacific…

Citi announced that it has completed the sale of its Philippines Consumer Business to UnionBank of the Philippines. The deal is expected to be worth approximately US$700 million. The transaction covers Citi’s local credit card, unsecured lending, deposit and investment businesses, as well as Citicorp Financial Services and Insurance Brokerage Philippines Inc. (CFSI), which provides insurance and investment products and services to retail customers. The agreement covers related Citi staff, with approximately 1,540 consumer bank and supporting employees transferring to UnionBank. The completed sale of Citi’s Philippines consumer business is the second divestiture to date among the 14 consumer markets…

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched a new initiative to provide direct advisory support to help cities across Asia and the Pacific to meet their climate resilience goals while improving their infrastructure and urban services. The Creating Investable Cities initiative, unveiled at the World Cities Summit in Singapore, will provide hands-on advisory support and capacity-building resources to 20 cities in Asia and the Pacific in the initial phase. The initiative will support these partner cities in mainstreaming climate resilience into their policies and projects, developing local resources mobilisation strategies, and improve their access to private sector finance. According to…

GoTyme announced that it had secured its Certificate of Authority (COA) to operate as a digital bank by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on 29 July 2022. The issuance of a COA is the third and final stage involved in establishing a digital bank in the country. BSP has reviewed GoTyme’s processes and infrastructure and deemed it compliant with all of its regulations including the Bank Secrecy Act, Anti-Money Laundering Act, Customers Protection Act, Data Protection Act and a robust IT risk management framework. The digital bank said in a statement, “GoTyme Bank is set to revolutionise digital banking…

Singapore-headquartered financial technology company UNOAsia, the primary incorporator of UNO Digital Bank in the Philippines, has secured US$ 11 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Creador Private Equity. Creador has already invested a total of US$ 21 million and has plans to increase this further, making it UNOAsia’s largest investor. To date, UNOAsia has secured US$ 44.5 million in investment which includes drawn-down capital of US$ 34 million. The investors of UNOAsia include founders Manish Bhai and Kalidas Ghose, Creador Private Equity, marquee investors Akash Bhanshali (Payash Securities), Samir Arora (Helios Capital) and other senior investors from…

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said that the government will accelerate the rollout of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys ID) to expand public access to financial products and services and achieve e-governance. Former President Rodrigo Duterte had previously issued an executive order to institutionalise the acceptance of the Philippine Identification (PhilID) or PhilSys. This would enable the use of PhilID and PhilSys as sufficient proof of identity and age in all government and private transactions. He added that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is in a better position to address cybersecurity concerns and enhance consumer safety within the digital financial…

The QR Ph Person-to-Merchant (P2M) payment facility, now fully implemented, now may be used in 473,000 merchant locations nationwide as of April 2022 which is almost double compared to the previous month. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported that there are 17 financial institutions participating in QR Ph P2M as of end June 2022. The regulator added that the QR Ph P2M is expected to further enhance financial consumers’ access to safe, efficient, and reliable digital payments. Launched in October 2021, QR Ph P2M enables interoperable digital payments between customers and merchants even if they maintain accounts with different financial…

Philippines’ online payment processing startup PayMongo has partnered with Atome Philippines to expand Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) acceptance among merchants in the country. In February this year, PayMongo had secured US$31 million in a Series B funding round to make its push into the BNPL space. This partnership enables PayMongo’s 10,000+ merchant network in the Philippines to offer their customers flexible deferred payment options, with no additional annual or service fees as an alternative checkout payment option. PayMongo offers a quick and fully-online onboarding process and seamless API integration with retail websites or apps, which allow them to accept…

Philippines digital bank Tonik announced that Tomasz Borowski will be joining its leadership team as the Group Chief Operations Officer (COO). Tomasz will be based in Singapore and employed by the holding company Tonik Financial, while working closely with the Philippines digital bank’s operations team. He has 20 years of experience in consumer finance, primarily focused on building efficient operations. Most recently the Co-Founder and CEO of Asian fintech credit management leader FLOW, Tomasz was instrumental in overseeing FLOW’s rollout across three markets in Southeast Asia, as well as its achievement of profitability prior to its Series B. Prior to…