Philippines’ digitisation journey – reinforcing sustainable innovation in the financial ecosystem

As of June 2022, the World Bank has maintained its gross domestic product (GDP) growth projection for the Philippines at 5.7%. The country’s economy has started recovering from the effects of COVID-19 pandemic and is expected to surpass pre-pandemic output levels this year. Experts, however, are advising a cautious optimism given the persistence of external risks such as the rising inflation, mounting public debt, geopolitical uncertainties and tightening global financing conditions. Despite the aforementioned challenges of a recovering economy, the Philippine financial industry continues to improve its performance. In the last two years of mobility restrictions, the country had to meet a surge in demand for contactless financial services. Hence, the industry pivoted and went full blast on its digital transformation journey. The country’s central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), has granted licences to digital-only banks. Incumbents and emerging players have also begun leveraging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), and expanded services including digital payments,e-wallets, buy now, pay later (BNPL), data analytics, cloud adoption and even super-apps. The country’s banks and other financial institutions also become more open to other fintech verticals, such as credit scoring, insurtech and cryptocurrencies. This 2022, the Bankers Association of the Philippines has voiced a more positive outlook for the industry. Incumbents and emerging players are modernising and pushing for efficiency through digitalisation. As the financial services industry carries on with its digital transformation journey through technological advancement and promising collaborations, it will also need cooperation and support from the BSP, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other regulatory agencies. The Asian Banker Finance Philippines 2022 is the leading annual conference for fostering sustainable innovation not only among financial institutions but also among disruptors and related players. The programme has been designed for senior executives from banks, financial institutions, fintech and large technology companies to come together for a day of in-depth discussions on the current trends that are reshaping the financial services industry.