The Philippines made a strong showing at the Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF) 2024, held from 6 to 8 November, under the “Bagong Pilipinas” pavilion.
The initiative involves key government agencies such as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Finance, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and Land Bank of the Philippines.
Other private sector participants include Maya Bank, Philippine Airlines, PLDT Enterprise, Atram Investments, JuanHand, Bureau, Tala, Adjust, Finscore, CIBI, and Netcore.
The festival, one of the world’s largest fintech events, hosted more than 66,000 participants from 150 countries last year and is expected to draw an even larger audience this year.
With a focus on artificial intelligence, the event aligns with President Marcos Jr.’s vision for a sustainable and inclusive digital economy.
According to the BSP, over 50% of retail payments in the Philippines are now digitised, reflecting the rapid adoption of digital finance.
The digital financial sector contributed 8.4% to the Philippines’ GDP in 2023, equivalent to PHP 2.05 trillion.
As part of the “Bagong Pilipinas” initiatives, Fintech Alliance.PH Chairman Lito Villanueva launched the 2024 Philippine Digital Lending Industry Report.
The report was developed in partnership with research firm GeoPol and in collaboration with Billease, Home Credit, Tala, and AsiaLink Group of Companies
It highlights key trends, including the growing preference for transparent and fast loan services.
The report also underscores the challenges, such as the need for stronger fraud prevention and expanded financial literacy programmes.
The ‘Bagong Pilipinas’ pavilion also featured the global launch of the Call to Action for Financial Health Metric, an initiative that included a case study on the Philippines presented to Queen Máxima, the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Financial Health.
“Building on the success of last year, we have curated an exciting lineup of groundbreaking content featuring engaging presentations, innovative global initiative launches, and dynamic partnership announcements.
This year, our government partners will once again present a compelling overview of how the Philippines is positioning itself as an investment haven through our proactive approach to development,”
said Lito Villanueva, Founding Chairman of the Fintech Alliance and EVP and Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer of RCBC.
