Cantilan Bank first BSP regulated rural bank to pioneer cloud tech

Cantilan Bank became the Philippines’ first financial institution regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to leverage cloud technology to deliver digital financial services. Cantilan Bank’s pioneering of cloud-based technology is supported by financial inclusion company Oradian, backed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and in line with BSP regulations and sandbox environment. This milestone aligns with the BSP’s digital transformation journey and enables delivery of digital financial services to unbanked individuals in remote, rural communities.

BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said: “The pioneering introduction of cloud banking in the Philippines is a key moment in solving the challenges of financial inclusion. Cloud technology that meets the requirements of the BSP’s Circular 808 is enhancing the competitiveness of rural banks and enabling them to provide affordable, high quality financial services.”

In July 2017, the ADB and Cantilan Bank launched the pilot project in the southern Philippines to demonstrate how cloud technology can unlock financial opportunities for the unbanked segments of the Filipino population.

“Cloud technology is revolutionizing the financial services sector in the Philippines. Digital financial services offer new opportunities to save, make a payment, get a small business loan.” said Lotte Schou-Zibell, Chief of Finance Sector Group at ADB.

Kelly Hattel, Senior Financial Sector Specialist, Southeast Asia Department of ADB added, “Increasing the capacity of financial service providers is a key objective of ADB’s Inclusive Finance Development Program. We want to leverage the success of this pilot to encourage other financial institutions to look at how technology can be used to strengthen their core operations, better meet the needs of their clients through digital products and services and grow their outreach especially in rural areas to the previously unbanked throughout the Philippines.”