FinTech welcomes Phl’s digital banking system
The Philippines is poised as an emerging digital hub in the Asia-Pacific region
Emerging financial technology firms welcomed the recent decision of the Monetary Board to recognize digital banking platform as a new bank category that’s separate and distinct from the traditional bank classifications.
According to Lito Villanueva, chair at Fintech Alliance.ph and RCBC EVP and chief innovation and inclusion officer, the FinTech Alliance and the entire Philippine digital industry welcome the approval of the digital bank licensing regulations.
“Coupled with the recently released draft on the guidelines on open finance framework and a comprehensive digital payments transformation roadmap, the Philippines is poised as an emerging digital hub in the Asia Pacific region,” Villanueva added.
The Philippines is notably the latest country to approve a new digital banking framework while regulators in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong are still working on their drafts.
Key component
The new policy is expected to become a key part of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) digital payments transformation roadmap.
“We are seeing more foreign technology players coming in and traditional banks levelling up to be at par with the increasing competition towards creating its own hybrid neo-banks. These developments present an expansive array of choices to consumers.
Consumers are the ultimate winners. At the end of the day, it is all about delivery of awesome customer experience and unique value proposition,” Villanueva said.
Earlier, BSP governor Benjamin Diokno said digital banks will play a key role in the country’s online financial services ecosystem.
“Expanding access of Filipinos to a broad range of financial services, bringing us closer to the realization of our target that at least 50 percent of total retail payment transactions have shifted to digital,” he said.
The BSP also wants 70 percent of adult Filipinos to maintain transaction accounts by the year 2023, Diokno said.
He added that these developments could potentially “remove sticky points and leapfrog our financial inclusiveness agenda.
Companies or organizations applying for digital banking licenses in the Philippines should have proper digital “governance” in place, and should also have a robust, secure and resilient tech infrastructure, along with a solid data management strategy.