The Fintech Alliance.PH and Fintech Philippines Association (FPH) have launched the Philippines Fintech Industry Sandbox pilot which was first unveiled during the Singapore Fintech Festival 2020.
The sandbox pilot is supported by the United Kingdom’s ASEAN Economic Reform Program (ASEAN ERP). It has reportedly been inspired by the UK Innovate Finance’s Industry Sandbox Consultative Report.
The Philippines Fintech Industry Sandbox is hosted on the API Exchange (APIX) platform, which is a Cloud-powered open architecture API marketplace, implemented by the ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN).
This initiative includes coordination with various stakeholders such as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the nation’s central bank, APIX, Rural and Thrift Banks of the Philippines, the Fintech Alliance.ph and also the Fintech Philippines Association.
These organizations have jointly presented the sandbox project along with the initial round of business requirements. Fintech firms have been requested to provide solutions for mobile banking, credit scoring and digital KYC applications.
During the pilot launch, Melchor Plabasan, Director Technology, Risk and Innovation at the BSP covered the main concepts and the roadmap for establishing Open Finance services in the Southeast Asian country.
BSP had released the Open Finance circular which is set to be approved within the next few weeks. Previously, 13 local institutions had asked the reserve bank to support this pilot, according to a report from Fintech News Philippines.
This should allow Fintech companies to implement various solutions that are able to support the expansion of the local financial sector while providing improved access to a wider range of digital financial services.
Participation in this initiative will require applicants to submit their project ideas. The projects will be vetted by members of the Philippines Fintech Industry Sandbox directory and API platform.
Shortlisted candidates will reportedly be announced in the coming weeks and will get the opportunity to work with rural and thrift banks in order to test their solutions.
Manish Diwaan, MD at APIX Philippines Fintech Sandbox, stated:
“Our genesis lies in the idea of social good, to bring together Fintechs and financial institutions in a failsafe environment where they can come together to make digital finance possible.”
Lito Villanueva, Chairman of the Fintech Alliance.ph, remarked:
“The challenge of financial inclusivity is too enormous for any single player to accomplish alone. This is why collaboration, synergy, cooperation and partnerships through Open Finance will be key towards a sustainable digital economy for the Philippines.”
