Digital banks, fintech players to launch roadmap, other initiatives for financial health

THE Digital Bank Association of the Philippines (DiBA PH) and FinTech Alliance PH will launch three new initiatives to help advance financial well-being and digital inclusion in the country.

Under the collaboration, the two industry groups that represent digital banks and financial technology (fintech) players in the country will adopt the 2028 Digital Finance Industry Roadmap as well as launch an Industry Financial Health Program and the ASEAN Financial Health Survey.

“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,” Angelito “Lito” M. Villanueva, FinTech Alliance PH chair and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. executive vice-president and chief innovation and inclusion officer, said in a statement on Wednesday.

This comes as DiBA PH’s 2025 Financial Health Survey released last month showed that the national financial health index of digital bank users climbed to 62 this year from 56 in 2024.

This indicates that people have better control of their daily finances, are more resilient in the short term, and feel increasingly confident about long-term planning, the industry groups said.

“This partnership represents our collective effort to move the conversation from access to actual financial well-being,” said Angelo Madrid, president of DiBA PH and chief executive officer of Maya Bank. “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.”

DiBA and FinTech Alliance PH said the 2028 Digital Finance Industry Roadmap will outline how digital banks and fintech companies can help in achieving the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) target to have 80% of Filipino adults become part of the formal financial system and 80% of payments done digitally by 2028.

They said the roadmap will focus on important areas like open finance, shared credit data, cybersecurity, digital trust, and responsible innovation.

They also urged the BSP and government to support policy, regulations, and infrastructure changes.

“The Digital Finance Roadmap is a shared starting point,” DiBA PH Vice-President and GoTyme Bank Chief Executive Officer Nate D. 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 FinTech Alliance 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,” he added.

The two groups will likewise establish an industry financial health program that would integrate financial-health metrics and behavior-based tools into digital products.

Meanwhile, DiBA and FinTech Alliance said they plan to expand the Financial Health Survey to cover fintech associations in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations with the help of the BSP. — Katherine K. Chan