Seamless Philippines scheduled on Sept. 27 to 28

THE THIRD annual edition of Seamless Philippines will be held on Sept. 27 to 28 at the SMX Convention Center in Manila and will see major Filipino banks, leading e-commerce and retail giants come together to share their insights on the future of commerce in the Philippines.

Since the first edition of the show back in 2015 the Philippines has seen e-commerce revenue grow from $805 million to more than $1.2 billion, consistent retail growth of 8%, and digital payments soaring to $5.5 billion in total transaction value. There has been a huge growth in disruptive companies in Fintech and e-commerce changing the way Filipinos transact and shop, as well as multiple examples of businesses unable to keep up with the pace of change who have fallen by the wayside.

For the last three years, Seamless Philippines has been committed to driving the digital commerce narrative throughout the country, providing an essential once a year summit for retailers, e-commerce merchants, payments and logistics leaders. At the 2017 show, over 90 speakers and hundreds of delegates are set to come together to discuss best practice, key challenges and market opportunities.

Kicking off the conference will be an intimate panel session featuring two of the most influential figures in the evolving payments industry in the Philippines, the Governor of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Nestor Espenilla and the Chief of Party for E-PESO/USAID Mamerto Tangonan. Together they will be discussing how digital payment interoperability can help to drive commercial growth throughout the Philippines.

Following this session will be a keynote presented by Jose Victor Paterno, president and CEO of 7-Eleven Philippines. The leading convenience store chain in the country, 7-Eleven Philippines, recently announced a 23.2% increase in sales across the country, driven in large part by the additional 393 stores opened last year. In his presentation, Mr. Paterno will be discussing how to modernize Philippine retail for the digital age.

Other key speakers set to participate include: Lotte Schou Zibell, principle economist, Asian Development Bank; Rolando Tanchanco, EVP of Consumer Lending, BDO Unibank; Daniel Abraham Macatangay, VP Mobile Payments, Bank of the Philippine Islands; Ron Hose, CEO, Coins.ph; Rafael Padilla, Legal Counsel and co-founder, FinTech Philippines Association; Ryan De Vera, co-founder, Wealthmart; Christian Eugene Quiros, VP and head of Risk Portfolio Management, Philippine National Bank; J Sadakathulla Rajan, former regional director Reserve Bank of India; Eugene S. Acevedo, SEVP and head of Retail Banking, Union Bank of the Philippines; Michelle Sario, founder, The Artisan Gatherer; Peter Northcott, Marketing Director, flyspaces.com; Luca Pignatelli, COO, Foodpanda Philippines; Brian Cu, managing director, Grab Philippines; Neel Shah, commercial director, Juntos; Bhavin Patel, Group Omnichannel director, Kamno Retail Group; Jose Magsaysay, Jr., president, Potato Corner; James L. Indino, Jr., vice-president, Group Information Technology, PhilCare; Macy Castillo, Commercial Business head, Shopee; Nicola Moreili, CEO, more.digital; and Miguel Pereira, CEO, Zoomov.

Alongside the conference will be an exhibition set to bring together major players from across the payments, retail and e-commerce vendor communities.