FinTech nation rising

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December 9, 2025 | 12:00am

As 2025 draws to a close, it has become evident that Philippine fintech is no longer a promising experiment. It has matured into a foundational pillar of the nation’s financial system. What began as wallet-based inclusion and mobile centered transactions have grown into a full digital finance ecosystem shaping how millions of Filipinos live, transact, save, invest and access services.

Digital payments reached historic levels with more than half of retail transactions now happening digitally. This shift is no longer about convenience or novelty. It reflects a permanent change in financial behavior across communities, sectors, age groups and income segments. The Philippines has entered a period where digital finance is no longer catching up. It is setting the agenda.

FinTech Alliance PH has been at the center of this transition. What began as a modest coalition is now the country’s most influential digital finance ecosystem, enabling the overwhelming majority of retail digital transactions nationwide. In 2025, the Alliance progressed from a convenor to an ecosystem architect that bridges regulators, banks, startups, global partners and emerging sectors critical to national development.

Some of the most defining milestones were the successful staging of the Manila Tech Summit and the Philippine Pavilion at the Singapore FinTech Festival. The pavilion became the single largest among all country exhibits and recorded the highest foot traffic and visitor interest throughout the event. For the first time, Philippine fintech stood prominently on the world stage.

What took place in Singapore marked a coming-of-age moment. The Philippines entered the international fintech conversation not as a follower but as an emerging regional leader.

Another important transformation was regulatory clarity. Philippine regulators have continued to demonstrate a pragmatic yet forward-looking approach with digital bank licensing, QR interoperability, eKYC adoption, responsible digital credit, open finance frameworks and regulatory sandboxes that allow innovation while protecting consumers. Rather than creating uncertainty, regulation has enabled investors and innovators to scale with confidence. Responsible regulation did not slow progress. It accelerated trust.

The year also saw a transition from access to real inclusion. Digital accounts began serving more than payments. They became gateways to formal credit, insurance, remittances, MSME empowerment and digital savings. This shift has started to bring millions into mainstream finance, especially in rural areas traditionally underserved by physical banking infrastructure.

The most important narrative shift in 2025 was the transition from focusing on financial inclusion toward advancing true financial health. Today, the challenge has evolved beyond account ownership and payment capability. Families need financial resilience rather than temporary liquidity, productive credit instead of predatory borrowing, and long-term savings and protection rather than short term transactions. This is financial health in its fuller sense: empowering people to build sustainable financial wellbeing, manage risks, invest and withstand economic shocks. The industry now recognizes that being financially included is not the destination. The real measure is becoming financially secure.

Still, challenges require urgent focus. Cybersecurity, fraud prevention, data governance, digital identity, financial literacy and safe digital lending are now national imperatives. The expansion of fintech brings not only benefits but responsibilities.

Connectivity remains the most critical limitation to universal digital inclusion. Without affordable devices, stable access and community level digital training, millions will continue to be digitally present but financially disconnected.

In response, FinTech Alliance PH launched the 80 by 80 Digital Inclusion Vision. The goal is for 80 percent of adult Filipinos to hold a digital transactional account and for 80 percent of retail transactions to be digital by 2028. This vision requires collaboration across the public and private sectors.

As chairman of FinTech Alliance PH, I witnessed a major shift in 2025. Our Alliance has now grown to over 140 corporate members from only seven founding corporate members in 2017.

Today, FinTech Alliance PH also serves as co-founder of the 15-market Asia FinTech Alliance and the South Africa based Alliance of Digital Finance and FinTech Associations now spanning over 50 countries. Through these global roles, the Philippines now collaborates with the University of Cambridge and partners with the embassies of Canada, Hungary, Australia, Poland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Japan and others.

What began in 2017 as a national initiative has transformed into a regional and global movement that positions the Philippines as a serious fintech voice in Asia.

Looking forward, the next phase of growth must focus on sustainability and shared responsibility. It is not enough to scale platforms. The country must strengthen digital trust, enhance industry standards, accelerate AI based fraud detection, expand responsible lending frameworks, improve financial education and continue modernizing payment infrastructure.

The year 2025 established that digital finance is now a central driver of our economic and social future. It connected communities across islands, expanded access to services, strengthened innovation and gave the Philippine fintech movement a place on the global stage. The momentum is real. The transformation is structural. The opportunity is historic.

If we build responsibly, inclusively and with national purpose, the Philippines will not only participate in the global fintech economy. It can lead Southeast Asia into a future where finance is digital by default and inclusive by design with the Filipino innovation story at the center. And the Philippines chairmanship of ASEAN in 2026 is timely.

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Lito Villanueva is the Philippines’ leading thought leader in inclusive digital finance. As EVP and chief innovation and inclusion officer of RCBC, he has driven large-scale digital initiatives that advanced financial inclusion. He is the founding chairman of FinTech Alliance PH, representing 95 percent of digital retail financial transactions, and the first global chairman of the Alliance of Digital Finance Associations. Recognized as a People Asia Men Who Matter 2025, Asia Trailblazer and AGORA Awardee, he continues to shape the fintech landscape in the Philippines and beyond.