ASEAN’s next phase of financial inclusion will depend not only on bringing more people into the financial system, but on strengthening the infrastructure, policies and market conditions that allow digital financial services to remain accessible, trusted and sustainable.
Speaking at the recent ASEAN Tech Summit Manila, Maya Bank President and CEO Angelo Madrid said the region has made significant progress in digital payments, financial services and account access. The next challenge is translating that access into better financial outcomes.
“Access is necessary, but an opened account or downloaded app is not yet a financial outcome,” Madrid said. “Real progress is when people can transact reliably, save regularly, borrow responsibly and become more resilient to financial shocks.”
Madrid joined the Futurecast panel “Building Sustainable and Inclusive Financial Services Ecosystems in ASEAN,” which examined how technology, regulation, infrastructure and business models can support the region’s continued digital-finance growth.
Strengthening the common foundation
Madrid said governments and shared infrastructure providers can help accelerate inclusion by investing in capabilities that benefit the ecosystem as a whole.
These include digital identity, payment and settlement infrastructure, real-time fraud intelligence, trusted data-sharing standards, and reliable connectivity. Stronger common foundations can reduce friction and system-wide costs while allowing individual providers to focus their investments on better products and services.
“Strong shared infrastructure creates a foundation on which providers can compete more effectively on price, service, reach and innovation,” Madrid said.
Digital identity, for example, can make onboarding easier and help reduce fraud when it is trusted, reusable, privacy-protecting and interoperable. Open Finance can similarly widen customer choice when consumers genuinely control their data and clear standards are in place around consent, security, liability and portability.
Affordability, trust and sustainable service
Madrid said affordability is essential to financial inclusion and consumer trust, but it should be considered together with transparency, reliability, safety and choice.
Digital financial services require continuing investment in cybersecurity, fraud prevention, settlement and reconciliation, customer support, system resilience, compliance, and product development.
“Consumers should have access to affordable and transparent services, but affordability does not mean every provider must arrive at the same price,” Madrid said. “Different institutions operate under different licenses, business models and cost structures. What matters is that consumers receive fair value, strong protection, reliable service and continued innovation.”
He said strong competition, supported by efficient shared infrastructure, should continue to improve price and value for consumers while allowing different providers to innovate within their respective mandates.
Clear rules, room to compete
For ASEAN to sustain investment in digital financial services, Madrid said regulation should be clear on desired outcomes, proportionate in implementation, and predictable over time.
Different institutions operate under different licenses, permitted activities, balance-sheet obligations and prudential requirements. Common principles can protect consumers while recognizing these structural differences and allowing institutions to compete on their respective strengths.
“Clear and predictable regulation supports consumer trust while giving institutions the confidence to continue investing and innovating,” Madrid said.
He added that strong consumer protection and innovation need not be competing objectives: “A progressive regulatory environment sets strong standards and clear outcomes, then gives institutions room to innovate and compete within those guardrails.”
For ASEAN, Madrid said the long-term opportunity is to strengthen the common digital foundation while preserving the diversity of institutions and business models that have helped expand access across the region.
“Payments and financial services are already becoming more connected across ASEAN,” he said. “The next step is making sure trust, identity, data, and consumer protection can move with them.”
