Business Opportunities in Fintech

Growth in the use of fintech in the country has opened up opportunities for Swiss companies. This report highlights the potential opportunities and also the challenges in the market and offers recommendations on market entry pathways.

The Philippines’ fintech sector, while still nascent compared to its regional peers, is gaining traction and has plenty of room to develop, thanks to the confluence of key factors, such as the fast-growing use of mobile banking, an enabling regulatory environment, and the high number of unbanked and financially underserved Filipinos, which represent around 70% of the adult population.

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in accelerated growth in the usage of digital payments, with mobile wallet usage leaping from 21.1% in 2019 to around 64% in 2020. Electronic money transactions were not only used for ordinary commercial transactions but even as a mode of payment for other services such as telemedicine, government services, and transportation, with the government backing the shift to digital channels.