The Philippines is reinforcing its commitment to measurable financial health and inclusive digital transformation, as the Digital Bank Association of the Philippines (DiBA PH) and FintechAlliance.ph, in consultation with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), unveiled three major industry initiatives at the Singapore Fintech Festival 2025.
The collaboration brings together digital banks and fintechs, such as e-wallets, around a unified agenda that combines innovation, behavioral design, and policy coordination to advance financial health and digital inclusion nationwide. These efforts align with the BSP’s Financial Inclusion Strategy and the Philippine Development Plan.
The announcement builds on findings from the 2nd DiBA PH Financial Health Survey, which assesses the ability of digitally banked Filipinos to manage their daily finances with ease and feel secure about the future, covering essentials such as meeting obligations, saving for emergencies, and pursuing long-term goals. In consultation with the BSP, the survey found that the national Financial Health Index (FHI) among digital bank customers increased from 56 in 2024 to 62 in 2025, reflecting stronger control over daily finances, improved short-term resilience, and growing, albeit still uneven, confidence in long-term planning.
At the event, DiBA and FintechAlliance.ph announced three collaborative initiatives designed to scale these gains across the industry:
- Adoption of the 2028 Digital Finance Industry Roadmap charting how digital banks and fintechs, in coordination with the BS, will jointly achieve the “80×80 by 2028” vision: 80% of Filipino adults with active accounts and 80% of payments made digitally. The roadmap outlines key pillars, including open finance, interoperable credit data, cybersecurity, digital trust, and responsible innovation, and calls on the BSP and government partners to drive the enabling policy, regulatory, and infrastructure reforms.
- Launch of the Industry Financial Health Program, embedding financial-health metrics and behavior-based tools like nudges into digital products to help users build resilience and confidence over time.
- ASEAN Financial Health Survey Collaboration, extending the survey framework to regional fintech associations, with BSP support, to establish a common ASEAN view on financial health.
“Through this collaboration, we are aligning fintechs and digital banks around a shared vision for financial well-being. It’s a call for collective leadership toward a more financially resilient Philippines,” said Lito Villanueva, Founding Chairman of FintechAlliance.ph and Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer of RCBC.
Nate Clarke, Vice President of DiBA PH and CEO of GoTyme Bank, emphasized that the roadmap highlights how collaboration translates into real progress on the ground.
“The Digital Finance Roadmap is a shared starting point,” Clarke said. “DiBA PH began this work to help the industry align on practical goals while inviting regulators and government partners to shape the direction with us. Working closely with FintechAlliance.ph allows us to expand adoption across the wider fintech ecosystem. The roadmap gives us a common language for what we aim to achieve, how we can collaborate, and how we measure progress.”
Angelo Madrid, President of DiBA PH and CEO of Maya Bank, said that the collaboration transforms insight into collective action.
“This partnership represents our collective effort to move the conversation from access to actual financial well-being,” Madrid said. “The latest survey shows where Filipinos are gaining confidence and where gaps remain. Turning these insights into design, regulation, and shared accountability is how we turn inclusion into measurable, lasting impact.”
The partnership’s three initiatives, anchored on innovation, measurement, and regional collaboration, signal a new phase of cooperation between regulators, digital banks, and fintechs. Together, they aim to make financial health a measurable and actionable goal while advancing inclusive, sustainable digital transformation in the Philippines and across ASEAN.
