Innovation has been key to the dominance of finance not just as an industry but an institution among other industries in the country. When we look at the many finance instruments Filipinos use daily and how those have evolved through the decades, we see how much innovation has influenced their transformations to adapt to the changing times and needs of the people---remember when trading was mainly done through tedious phone calls?
Since around 2018, I have been one of those who first used e-wallets in most of my transactions. Back then, I refuse to buy from stores which do not accept digital payments, and back then there’s still a lot of them. I stick to its use even for my food, transportation, etc., so as I could really experience living cashless. And it worked out for the better most of the time. Years ago, I would keep a small amount of cash in my wallet for urgent cases where the vendors really do not have any other ways to accept an online payment. Finally, in recent years, my wallet has just become the “house of cards” (my credit cards)---and it won’t be too long until all those cards will become fully virtual too (one of my cards is virtual).
In the industry side, companies have really started moving to a more digital environment right after the episodes of pandemic lockdowns in 2020. Changes, even in credit scoring (Guanzon 2022), have been planned and implemented to keep up with the evolved demand of the market when it comes to financial services delivery in the country. Although the Philippines is not ahead of many other countries when it comes to innovation, many organizations keep Filipino finance companies abreast with the latest in finance technology (fintech), like the FinTech Philippines Association and FinTech Alliance Philippines.
One of the companies (or group of companies) at the top of their toes to innovate is the Asialink Group of Companies, for which I had the opportunity to facilitate an innovation forum for. The Asialink Group of Companies Innovation Forum 2025 was attended by key officers from Asialink Finance, Global Dominion, SAFC, Global SME Loans, TRBank, Cepat Kredit, Wisefund, AFC SME, SureCycle, Cycle Financing, Global Cebuana, Cebuana Cycle, Forbes Lending, Annapolis, 5R Properties, and GoodDeal. The attendees paid attention to the fintech presenters which include OneWorkforce, Umpisa, AI Rudder, IDMeta, Traxion, Olivia, and met with other external participants like Jointeff and AND Solutions.
But these are just a few of the fintech teams that can offer a lot more to finance companies and help improve delivery of financial services in the country. If you are still maddened by the numerous documents you must submit whenever you apply for anything, even the smallest amount of loan or financing, know that you are not alone. And while institutions try their best to make insights more open and accessible digitally for improved ease of verification that shall make reviews a lot smoother and less tedious, you can look for other ways, especially easier ways, to do things, e.g., how to get gadget financing without having to leave the comfort of your home. You can also start supporting the innovators and ideators in the realm of finance.
Fintech offers a wide variety of good deals: from the simplest one, e.g., creating digital and structured copies of data that companies need; to some complex ones, e.g., a combination of machine learning and explainable artificial intelligence tools to build credit review algorithms. If you work in the financial sector, it would be unbelievable if you have not faced any fintech provider yet offering you services that could help make your work easier. Insurance technology (insurtech) is another branch of this sector that makes insurance processes more convenient for both providers and subscribers.
Despite these advancements, there are still a lot of infrastructure improvements that need to occur to address the inequality of access to these different finance tools among Filipinos, especially in ultra poor communities. While we talk about cryptocurrencies and automated risk-management tools, some Filipinos can’t even get a hold of an electronic device or connect to a stable internet connection for them to start exploring digital finance instruments. Not to mention there are so many other things they must prioritize based on human hierarchy of needs before even thinking about saving money. How about food?
Nonetheless, it is important to continue with innovation at an even faster pace in developing the financial institutions of this country for the betterment of not just the industries but of the communities as well, as we shift from the lower middle-income economy to the upper middle income one soon, as the government predicts. The question really is, “How can we leverage innovation to make financial tools more accessible to more Filipinos?”