Author: Fintech News Philippines

227 Chinese nationals were arrested in Pasig City, Philippines, on suspicion of running a crypto investment scam targetting would be investor back in China. This was according to local media, The Inquirer. The 227 Chinese nationals all had Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) visa, which meant that they were only permitted to work within the special economic zone in Cagayan. The raid was reportedly conducted on Grapefruit which is a service provider of Golden Millenial Quickpay, an offshore cryptocurrency company licensed in the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA). CEZA’s license does not permit for entities to provide services onshore, which…

The Philippines is anticipated to launch a standardised QR code for payments by September, according to a report by Philstar. The plan to standardise QR payments in Philippines was first announced by the late BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr in July last year. With QR payments being increasingly popular especially within the ASEAN region, Philippines follows in the footsteps of countries like Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia in adopting a standardised QR payment to drive interoperability between e-wallet providers. The Chairman of Fintech Alliance.Ph, Lito Villanueva recently called for ASEAN regulators to standardise payment QR codes across the region, citing…

The ASEAN must standardize quick-response (QR) codes for digital payments platforms to facilitate and simplify regional trade. Lito Villanueva, Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) and chairman of FinTech Alliance.ph, said that the immediate standardization of QR codes for payments within the ASEAN is a critical positive development in realizing a common aspiration towards an ASEAN Economic Community. “These, of course, must be in collaboration with the ASEAN Bankers Association, country regulators, ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN BAC) and the FinTech country organizations, we can then make this a reality sooner than later,” Villanueva stated.…

The Overseas Filipino Bank (OFBank), a state-owned bank and a subsidiary of Land Bank of the Philippines, is planning to become a fully branchless, digital lender by mid-2020. Currently pending approval from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the country’s central bank, the OFBank will provide online lending, investments, insurance, bills payment and other financial services to overseas Filipinos, reports the Manila Bulletin. Land Bank president and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo said she expects to “have that digital bank up and running by June 2020.” Borromeo said the IT system of Landbank will be tweaked to serve as the primary…

CIMB Bank Philippines announced that it has garnered 500,000 customers, approximately six months after opening its doors for business in the Philippines. The milestone was reached anchored on a strong proposition of co-creation and partnership between CIMB Bank and GCash, the leading payments platform in the Philippines with over 5 million downloads. The all-digital, mobile-first CIMB Bank PH was launched in early 2019 with a goal of bringing a unique and differentiated banking proposition to Filipinos. CIMB Bank PH had forged a partnership with GCash, to allow GCash’s customers direct, paperless and seamless access to savings account services, a product…

The Philippines government is pushing for innovation and entrepreneurship, introducing new regulations and programs to support young companies, and leading numerous projects to bring convenient e-government public services to the masses. The Philippines Innovation Act The Philippines’ president, Rodrigo Duterte, has signed a new law aimed at boosting innovation to help “promote growth and national competitiveness of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs),” according to a report by the SunStar Philippines. Signed on April 17, the Republic Act 11293, or the Philippine Innovation Act, aims to “remove obstacles to innovation by suppressing bureaucratic hurdles” and “encourage entrepreneurial attitude in order…

Philippines’ regulator, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has released its rules and regulations on crowdfunding as its way of providing certainty in the market so that startups and SMEs can access funding, while the public is given more investment options. In the Philippines, Section 8 of the Securities Regulation Code (SRC) provides that securities shall not be sold or offered for sale or distribution within the Philippines, without a registration statement duly filed with and approved by the Commission. However, to promote access to finance,  the new rules provides an exemption from registration of crowdfunding securities as long as everyone…

Soon, students and employees in the University of the Philippines (UP) will say goodbye to the typical barcoded ID cards and instead be given ID cards with radio frequency identification (RFID)/near-field communication (NFC) capabilities. The University has signed a memorandum of agreement with PayMaya, a prepaid virtual card platform that aims to serve Filipinos without access to credit cards on the 20th of June. The cards will soon be usable in any accompanying facilities that require a UP ID card, but will also double as a cashless payment mechanism inside the university. A Prepaid Virtual Credit Card According to University…

With more than 5 million downloads from Google Play, GCash is not only one of the Philippines most popular mobile banking apps, it is also one of the cheapest banking services providers, requiring no minimum maintaining balance compared to other leading banks and providers, according to an analysis by MyManila.net. GCash is a mobile money service regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, that lets users buy, load, purchase items, send and receive money, pay bill, and more, on any network in the country (not just Globe’s). GCash also offers the option to…

Financial technology continues to bring exciting times ahead in the Philippines with the ever-growing emergence of new fintech players that aim to cater to 69 per cent of its adult population that are still unbanked. A report released earlier this year suggests that the Filipino fintech sector may soon be entering “a new phase of development” driven by the large, mobile-savvy and increasingly well-off generation of Filipinos who will increasingly be demanding digital financial services. The following 15 companies are some of the most exciting new fintech ventures to keep a close eye on this year: Cropital Cropital helps farmers…

Members of the FinTech Alliance.ph have agreed to adopt a code of conduct for responsible online lending. This was after 48 online lenders have been cited for alleged unethical collection practices leading to data privacy violation. Over 400 harassment complaints from customers were reported to the National Privacy Commission. According to reports, operators of online lending applications that allegedly misused the borrower’s information, including the disclosure of unpaid balances to other people. Both the NPC and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating the matter. “The public may have the wrong sweeping generalization that all online lenders are evil. The…

RCBC Bank is currently awaiting regulatory approval to issue its own Philippine Peso-backed cryptocurrency on the newly announced IBM Blockchain World Wire, a real-time global payments network created for regulated financial institutions. RCBC Bank sees this as an opportunity to enhance their payment infrastructure. This will be the second time a company expressed interest in issuing Peso-backed cryptocurrency. However, RCBC Bank will be the first homegrown company to do so, as the other stablecoin, peg.PHP, was launched by Bitspark, a Hong Kong-based company. Stablecoin here refers to cryptocurrencies that are pegged to the price of existing real-world assets. The trend…

The song and dance for incumbents in Philippines right now is “future-proofing”. Joining the trend of entrenched establishments disrupting themselves before they are disrupted, the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) appoints Lito Villanueva as Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer effective May 1, 2019. Villanueva is no small fry, known to be a digital finance expert and thought leader across Southeast Asia. He is recognised for his pioneering work, including “sachet banking” initiative with five banks, in which sari-sari stores can serve as cash agents for banking transactions to cater to unbanked and underserved Filipinos. He was the first…

Bitspark, a bankless money transfer platform, has just launched what it claims to be the first market-ready cryptocurrency pegged to the Philippine Peso (PHP)—named the peg.PHP Based in Hong Kong, the blockchain-enabled company made the revelation today, following its recent launch of “the first” Hong Kong Dollar-pegged stablecoin, Sparkdex.HKD. Stablecoins here refer to cryptocurrencies that are backed by and pegged to the price of existing real-world assets. Launching a stablecoin has been all the rage lately too, with parties like Facebook developing a stablecoin for money transfers that is reportedly worth US$1 billion. Peg.PHP began listing on Sparkdex, Bitspark’s decentralised…

Strong fundamentals, a supportive regulator and a comprehensive cell phone coverage, are some of favorable attributes of the Philippine market set to drive the digital transformation of the country’s financial sector, according to a report released earlier this month by the Milken Institute. Titled Fintech in the Philippines: Assessing the State of Play, the new research paper examines the current state of fintech in the Philippines, the drivers of the coming digital transformation, the regulatory environment and the challenges ahead. In particular, the paper suggests that the Philippine fintech sector may soon be entering “a new phase of development” driven…

Bitcoin machines are on the rise worldwide. Currently, these devices are in 76 countries and now the Philippines have been added to the list. In the capital Manila, the first Bitcoin ATM was set up by UnionBank and Philippine’s central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The fact that these parties are behind setting up the Bitcoin ATM in Manila shows a trend of growing acceptance for cryptocurrencies in the Philippines. UnionBank justifies its commitment that it must adapt to the “changing needs and tastes of its customers”. Therefore, users of cryptocurrencies should be able to convert their digital currencies to…

A pilot project seeking to show transparency in the flow of money via public blockchain was formally launched last week in Manila rewarding cleaners of polluted beaches with the cryptocurrency Ether (ETH). Dubbed “Bounties for the Oceans: Philippines Pilot – Sustained, Verifiable Plastic Cleanups”, the initiative came from Bounties Network, and ConsenSys Social Impact in partnership with local e-wallet Coins.ph, and mobile Ethereum wallet Trust Wallet. Through Coins.ph, people participating in the cleanup can exchange their ETH into Philippine Peso and use the money to pay bills or buy groceries. Held last December 1 and 2, the cleanup drive’s pilot…

When Grab announced that they wanted to take a stake in e-payments, many made the comparisons to Tencent’s Alibaba. That was no coincidence. After acquiring Uber (and a potential monopoly) in the Southeast Asian region, Grab has come out with their ambition to become an everyday app. Almost in rapid succession, Grab comes out with other offerings—Grabfood, a partnership with an online grocery shopper, its various shuttle services, GrabBike, GrabCycle (emulating the now-defunct oBike) all while continuously pushing the extension underlying it all, GrabPay. Now it has come out that Grab has its eye on the Philippines. Grab Has Secured…

Fintechnews.PH picks every Friday for you the top 5 Fintech Philippines News of the week: Follow the Fintech Philippines Facebook or Twitter channel to stay updated. Also, you can subscribe to our monthly Fintech PH Newsletter here. Here we go: 21 fintech firms seen to invest P2b in CEZA The Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) is expecting up to P2 billion of fresh investments in its freeport coming from 21 offshore fintech firms engaged in blockchain and cryptocurrency operations that signed up with the government-owned and-controlled corporation. “They could bring in fresh investments of up to P2 billion in the next two years,” said CEZA…

Fintechnews.PH picks every Friday for you the top 5 Fintech Philippines News of the week: Follow the Fintech Philippines Facebook or Twitter channel to stay updated. Also, you can subscribe to our monthly Fintech PH Newsletter here. Here we go: 15 offshore firms investing P1.7b in Philippines’ ‘Fintech City’ The government-owned and-controlled corporation Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) has secured up to P1.7 billion in investments from 15 offshore fintech and blockchain companies set to be locators in the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport (CSEZFP) ― the launching ground for the first “Fintech City” in the Philippines. Among the early offshore companies to ink…