News

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. has appointed digital technocrat Henry Rhoel Aguda as the new secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

He replaced Ivan Uy, who resigned from the post early this month.

Undersecretary for Special Concerns Paul Mercado then stepped in as the agency’s officer-in-charge while waiting…

FlexM Pte. Ltd., a global fintech conglomerate, has secured a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). This milestone marks a significant expansion of FlexM’s regulated financial services, enabling the company to offer cross-border money transfer services to its customers in Singapore.

Established in 2015, FlexM has been at the forefront…

GCash is gearing up to launch its Tap-to-Pay feature in overseas markets, aiming to provide seamless transactions for Filipino travellers. This expansion, leveraging near-field communication (NFC) technology, is slated for rollout by the middle of the year, according to Oscar Reyes Jr., President and CEO of G-Xchange, the operator of GCash.

The Tap-to-Pay service, which allows…

MANILA, Philippines — Yuchengco-led Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) has teamed up with fintech company Cashmallow to introduce a cardless cash withdrawal service in the Philippines for travelers from South Korea and other countries.

The partnership also aims to enhance cross-border remittances, making money transfers faster and more cost-effective.

Cashmallow is a fintech company offering innovative global…

THE PHILIPPINE Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) wants to introduce a risk-based assessment system to prevent banks from taking on too much leverage following the increase in the maximum deposit insurance coverage (MDIC).

“Presently, we only have one premium assessment, the flat rate assessment system, that applies to all banks, which is one-fifth of 1% of the…

There are only a few things in the world that are more costly than downtime.

Research indicates that large organisations can lose up to USD $9,000 per minute during system outages, with high-risk industries like finance and healthcare facing potential losses of over USD $5 million per hour if the problem persists.

Beyond financial repercussions, prolonged downtimes…

THE BANGKO SENTRAL ng Pilipinas (BSP) said it is working to ensure that the country will not return to the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) “gray list,” citing the need to crack down on digital technology threats.

“Just because we are off the gray list does not mean that we are done. We have to make…

The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is struggling to combat investment scams that utilise deepfake technology.

SEC Chairperson Emilio B. Aquino highlighted the difficulty, stating, “Everything is fake. It’s very difficult to discern if it is true or not.”

He emphasised that the scammers’ primary goal is to steal money.

Emilio Aquino stated that the most tangible…

Visa and the Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) have formed a partnership to broaden financial services and access, particularly for Filipinos in remote areas.

This collaboration aims to modernise PHLPost’s essential services, including remittances, money orders for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), and the distribution of crucial social welfare and disaster relief funds.

Visa will contribute its global payment…

THE BANKERS Association of the Philippines (BAP) wants to open the peso interest rate swap (IRS) market to offshore investors as the platform continues to be developed.

Citi Philippines Country Head and Chief Executive Officer and BAP Open Market Committee Chairman Paul Raymond A. Favila said the peso IRS market has seen increased volume since its…