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Expanding Fintech Services in the Philippines

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The development of contactless payment technology, which allows payments to be made without any direct or indirect human contact, is being given a big push by the fear of COVID-19 infection. In particular, digital (or online) payment has gained a lot of traction since the outbreak.

The Philippines’ central bank aims to increase the use of electronic payments to 50% of total financial transactions by 2023. Since quarantine restrictions were first imposed in March 2020, the Philippines has seen a surge in digital payments. The country’s largest provider of mobile money services reported in May 2020 that the total amount of payments through its platform had increased eightfold from the previous years.

Recently, a tech company based in Manila, which also owns one of the most popular payment and financial services apps in the Philippines, announced today that it has raised US$ 167 million in new funding to launch additional financial services, including a digital bank. This includes US$ 121 million in new funding and $ 46 million from previously committed funds. The company announced in April 2020 that it had secured up to US$ 120 million in investment commitments from a few other of the country’s largest telecoms.

In its funding announcement, the tech company said it has applied for a digital bank license with Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Philippines’ central bank. A representative for the company said the digital bank will be launched about six months after the company had secured its license.

The government of the Philippines made e-commerce and electronic payment methods a priority in efforts to boost both financial and digital inclusion throughout the country, a collection of over 7,500 islands where physical logistical challenges may be overcome with digital enhancements.

OpenGov Asia reported that payment systems will evolve as digital lifestyles increase and more people around the world become linked. Consumers, businesses, and governments all stand to gain, and the expansion of e-commerce necessitates a reliable electronic payment infrastructure.

The Philippines’ Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) recently launched its Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap 2020-2023. This roadmap charts the BSP’s current initiatives and strategy in advancing an efficient, inclusive, safe, and secure digital payments ecosystem. The end goal includes increasing the number of Filipinos with access to financial services.

COVID-19 is likely to result in a significant and long-term expansion of digital payments. To make a smooth transition to digital payments, which will be an essential part of the more digital post-COVID-19 world, Asian economies must strengthen their regulatory frameworks and invest in digital networks and infrastructure, such as those that support the use of digital IDs. Contactless payment systems require robust identification systems backed by a certification authority, dependable internet networks, and trustworthy financial services.

With the rate of digitisation increasing in the Philippines, e-commerce merchants must capitalise on this shift in consumer attitudes by offering a variety of payment options along with appealing offers to attract the attention of a wide range of users. Offering multiple payment methods, including cash, and collaborating with local partners who have a thorough understanding of the Philippine’s market (not just retail and payments, but also logistics fulfilment and last-mile deliveries), could assist in transforming the Philippine’s into an e-commerce territory, opening more opportunities in the rest of Southeast Asia.

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

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CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

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Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

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SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

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HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

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IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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