Finance

BPI CyberProtect Conference: Cross-collaboration from stakeholders urged

AFASA law, more advanced practices tackled

Published

July 31, 2025

GadgetMatch

BPI held its latest 2025 BPI CyberProtect Conference in the Philippines. The event gathered more than 230 leaders from government agencies and private organizations.

The event aimed to champion stronger consumer protection and cybersecurity measures. It also served as a platform to advance cross-sector collaboration in safeguarding Filipino consumers in an increasingly digital financial ecosystem.

Anti-scamming law

One of the conference’s highlights is discussing the implementation of the recently signed Republic Act No. 12010. This law is also known as the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA).

The law has an integral role in deterring financial fraud and reinforcing confidence in digital banking, as noted by the Philippines’ Central Bank’s Deputy Governor Elmore Capule.

First, AFASA criminalizes fraudulent activities involving bank accounts, e-wallets, and other digital financial platforms.

These include schemes such as money muling and social engineering tactics used to deceive account holders. AFASA is also designed to enhance consumer protection and uphold the integrity and trustworthiness of the country’s financial system.

All in all, implementation of the law is about building a robust and responsive framework to protect financial consumers.

The event also bared that in 2024, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) agency handled 10,004 cybercrime complaints, This is a sharp rise from 3,317 cases the year before.

Consumer fraud also accounted for 35% of all reports with a total financial loss of nearly PhP 198 million (roughly US$ 3,410,619).

What the Philippines can learn from Singapore

Interestingly, the Philippines can also learn a simple trick that is being already used by major banks in Singapore.

During his talk, Philip Kwa, Master in Cybersecurity at the Asian Institute of Singapore, highlighted how Singaporean banks like OCBC, DBS, and UOB have a “Money Lock” feature.

Essentially, this extra layer of security lets clients lock their funds on their existing current or savings account. It prevents funds from being moved digitally from client to intended recipient.

After transferring funds digitally — presumably a large amount — from one’s account to a recipient, the latter can only receive it once the sender verifies their identity through either a phone call or ATM.

Mr. Philip Kwa.

The sent amount cannot be released even though it has already been sent. The sender must accomplish the extra verification step physically first.

That way, senders are assured of their funds not being lost to scammers right away should there be lapses in judgement and the like.

In addition, the island also has dedicated physical Anti-Scam Centers for real-time intervention, funds tracing, and swift freezing of accounts and processing of orders.

Meanwhile, all government SMSes only come from a “gov.sg” sender ID. It also begins with the full name of the agency that sent it.

Lastly, Singapore’s enhanced SIM card registration includes a multi-layered approach to disrupt scam calls.

This includes blocking robocalls using pattern recognition technology and identifying international scam calls.

AI plays a role

Rep. Brian Poe Llamanzares of the Philippines 20th Congress

Furthermore, Rep. Brian Poe Llamanzares of the Philippine House of Representatives also delivered a talk centered on how AI can help play a part in scam prevention.

Poe Llamanzares also mentioned ways how the government can use AI to educate consumers, starting from the grassroots level through barangays or the smallest political and geographical unit under the Philippine government system.

BPI, for its part, uses fraud detection and real-time monitoring, as well as two-factor authentication. AI chatbots are also utilized for customer education and scam alerts.

Moving forward, the conference urged cross-collaboration from all stakeholders for sustained cooperation. This is to help the entire digital financial ecosystem stay ahead of possible risks in this day and age.

Finance

GCash future-proofs MSMEs with new payment innovations

GCash EasyPOS, SoundPay Plus

Published

July 25, 2026

GadgetMatch

GCash is future-proofing micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with new customer-first payment innovations. This, as the Philippines continues to become a digital payments nation.

The app expanded its suite of solutions to make digital payments more accessible, convenient, and secure for merchants.

Rather than a one-size-fits-all solution, GCash has payment devices designed for different business sizes and ways of operating.

One is the GCash EasyPOS, an all-in-one terminal for medium and even large enterprises. This accepts QRPh, Visa, and Mastercard payments and also supports features like digital receipts, refunds, settlements, and transaction monitoring.

Meanwhile, GCash SoundPay Plus is designed for micro and small merchants, specially in the retail and F&B sectors. It combines QR payments, card acceptance, and instant voice confirmation so merchants can immediately check when a payment pushes through.

The rollout of these two solutions builds on earlier solutions GCash introduced, including PocketPay and SoundPay.

PocketPay is designed for MSMEs, bazaar or pop-up merchants, and mobile sellers who take their products and services wherever their customers are.

It turns an NFC-enabled Android smartphone into a contactless card terminal. This makes payments easy and affordable — without investing in additional hardware.

SoundPay, meanwhile, is a portable QR payment device that provides instant voice confirmation for every transaction.

According to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), 57.4% of retail payment transactions by volume were made digitally in 2024.

The central bank is targeting a digital payment share of 60% to 70% by 2028, with businesses increasingly expected to support cashless transactions.

Finance

GoTyme Bank grows to 10 million users in the Philippines

Over US$ 859.4 million in customer deposits

Published

July 14, 2026

GadgetMatch

GoTyme Bank has reached the 10 million-user milestone in the Philippines, one of its key markets.

A joint venture between the parent Tyme Group and the the local Gokongwei Group, the digital bank has officially grown to 10 million strong, its latest accomplishment after debuting in the country three years ago.

The milestone is backed by over PhP 53 billion (~859.4 million) in customer deposits and sustained engagement across the GoTyme Bank ecosystem.

A core driver of the bank’s rapid growth is its integration into users’ daily financial habits. GoTyme was the Most Used Visa Debit Card in the Philippines, based on Visa debit active usage data in 2025.

The bank has also offered free InstaPay transfers from the start (capped at 20 transactions a month) for greater flexibility. There are also more than 160 billers on the app.

Complementing the digital-first infrastructure is an extensive physical network. There are now more than 600 kiosks in major malls nationwide.

Customers can also conveniently deposit and withdraw cash through more than 2,500 Robinsons Retail store lanes. Cash deposit is also allowed through more than 4,500 7-Eleven stores nationwide.

Among GoTyme’s recent offerings is MoreTyme, a flexible, transparent, and easy-to-understand credit solution.

Through Visa, GoTyme also took part in FIFA World Cup 2026 campaigns, with raffle winners being flown to watch the matches live.

Finance

UnionDigital Bank, Chubb partner for accessible insurance protection

Chubb insurance products now integrated into UD app

Published

June 17, 2026

GadgetMatch

UnionDigital Bank and Chubb Philippines have partnered to bring accessible insurance protection to Filipinos.

The strategic partnership integrates Chubb’s insurance solutions directly on the UD app. These comprehensive solutions will be seen among UD’s suite of financial products. That way, insurance protection becomes more accessible for consumers.

The two key insurance products in the initial rollout are Loan Protect Insurance and Kaya Protect Insurance.

The first product is automatically included for eligible UD loan borrowers at no additional cost for the first three months once the loan is approved.

In the event of accidental death, permanent disability, temporary disability, or death due to illness, Loan Protect Insurance pays up to the original loan amount to cover 100% of the customer’s outstanding loan balance.

Any remaining balance is released to beneficiaries. Loan Protect Insurance is currently available for loans up to PhP 30,000 with short-term repayment periods.

Meanwhile, Kaya Protect Insurance will be available soon. This provides personal accident and accidental death coverage up to PhP 150,000 and is activated automatically by maintaining a low minimum balance of PhP 100 in the insured’s savings account.

The partnership between UnionDigital Bank and Chubb aims to address the protection gap, as according to a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) survey, 48% of adult Filipinos are currently uninsured.