FinTech Alliance.PH backs transfer of OLP oversight to central bank

FINTECH Alliance.PH is backing the proposed transfer of oversight of online lending platforms (OLP) to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), saying this will allow for better regulation of the industry.

“In other markets, the regulatory body is centralized. You can limit the potential regulatory arbitrage and compliance. Definitely, it would be more seamless. It will also be more advantageous to the players because they would say that compliance is very costly. At least in this case, it will be more streamlined and much clearer in terms of policies. It would be much better for the entire industry in general,” FinTech Alliance.PH Founding Chairman Angelito “Lito” M. Villanueva told reporters on the sidelines of an event on Wednesday.

The SEC last month submitted a position paper proposing to transfer oversight of OLPs to the BSP, citing challenges in addressing fraud in the sector.

For its part, the BSP and legislators have expressed preference for a joint regulatory approach.

Mr. Villanueva added that they are discussing capitalization requirements for OLPs with the central bank to ensure their scalability.

Meanwhile, he said the group will recalibrate their financial inclusion targets to focus on customer retention rather than acquisition, adding that they want 80% of Filipino adults to have digital transactional accounts and 80% of retail transactions conducted digitally by 2028.

“Having to generate the accounts or having to create accounts is one thing. But having to ensure that usage or utilization of those accounts or those accounts remain active is another thing. That’s why in our case, FinTech Alliance is now more geared towards having to ensure that what you now have in terms of onboarded accounts would be able to sustain the usage,” Mr. Villanueva said.

Industry players will look to boost usage via incentives that will push consumers to keep their accounts active instead of being dormant, the official said.

This is after the BSP’s Consumer Finance and Inclusion Survey showed financial account ownership among Filipinos went down to 50% in 2025 from 56% in 2021.

FinTech Alliance.PH is set to host the Manila Tech Summit 2026 from July 28 to July 29, where over 4,000 global leaders, policymakers, regulators, and industry players across Southeast Asia will convene under the theme: Building ASEAN’s Digital Economy: Secure. Sustainable. Inclusive. Borderless.

“As ASEAN Chair, the Philippines has a decisive opportunity to move the Digital Economy Framework Agreement from aspiration to execution. The Manila Tech Summit 2026 is designed as a working platform, aligning policy, capital, and technology to enable trusted cross border ecosystems. This is about building a digital economy that is not only innovative, but interoperable, secure, and inclusive at scale,” Mr. Villanueva said.

FinTech Alliance.PH is the country’s largest digital industry association and has over 100 corporate members. — A.M.C. Sy