With the theme of “Digital Infrastructures for Inclusive Digital Economies,” Huawei Philippines recently held the Intelligent Finance Summit 2021. This is the second year Huawei held this event locally, focusing on the foundational technologies that need to be implemented to achieve truly intelligent finance.

During the event, Huawei had multi-layered perspectives and thoughts of key opinion leaders, industry visionaries and business leaders from the financial services industry, including Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Fintech Philippines Association, UnionDigital and PayMaya. They all shared insights on digital trends, best practices and looked at the possibilities of prioritizing digital infrastructures to achieve inclusive growth in the digital economy in 2022, and beyond.

“To further advance the BSP's policy agenda, we also support critical information communication technology reforms. These initiatives aim to provide those who are currently unbanked or underbanked much needed access to expansive financial services,” said the Bangko Sentral.

” Huawei has been engaged in FSI for a decade. Throughout our 10 years of growth, we have served more than 2,000 financial institutions in over 60 countries and regions, including 48 of the world's top 100 banks. Huawei has become an important partner in the digital transformation of the global FSI,” said Jason Cao, president of the Global Financial Services Business of Huawei Enterprise BG.

The demand for inclusive finance in Philippines is booming. The Bangko Sentral has set an ambitious target in the 2021 to 2023 Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap goals to achieve an efficient, safe and inclusive payments ecosystem, expanding the financial inclusivity of the Philippine banking system to cover 70% of the total population by converting 50% of the total volume of retail payments into digital form.

“Three years into the journey of the Asean fintech era, deep integration into various verticals is needed for widespread adoption. Our primary focus is Web 3.0 – a horizontal that will cut across industries to bring us to a digitally inclusive future. The Digital Pilipinas movement is in a constant state of outreach to help our economy tech up and not get left behind,” said Amor Maclang, Executive Director of Fintech Philippines Association, convenor of World Fintech Festival in Philippines,

In a panel discussion on The Effects of Digital Transformation on Accelerated Financial Inclusion, key industry leaders talked about how to unlock new financial value and prioritize digital trends to as the Philippines grows its digital economy.

Arvie de Vera, Co-Founder and CEO of UnionDigital, when asked about the use of blockchain in expanding financial inclusion, said the Philippines was currently Teching Up, “Where we are creating more access, through blockchain, for the previously financially excluded institutions – we can interconnect the possibilities of open finance as banking is no longer a vertical, but a horizontal across all platforms and industries.”

"Businesses of all sizes across industries are driving e-Commerce and embracing digital payments. As the country's largest payment processor for everyday merchants, we're seeing rapid growth, especially among MSMEs. Whether via online storefronts, app, or social media, any business can now easily accept digital payments. This is a good example of how financial technology is enabling inclusive growth," said Mitch Padua, Chief Product Officer (CPO) of PayMaya Philippines.

Huawei has cooperated with leading financial institutions in many countries and regions, such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Germany, France, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and others. In the Philippines, they have worked with key partners in BDO, Unibank and UnionBank of the Philippines to accelerate the digital transformation of their operations and services.