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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider Banking & Finance devider RCBC executive calls for 'real-time' overhaul of fintech regulation

RCBC executive calls for 'real-time' overhaul of fintech regulation

Published Apr 27, 2026 12:53 pm
Lito Villanueva, RCBC Executive Vice President and Chief Innovations and Inclusion, joins a panel discussion on shaping the future of financial regulation at Money20/20 Asia in Bangkok, Thailand, alongside Senior Director Melchor Plabasan of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and Jo Yeo of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The session was moderated by Ian Fong, VP for Content of Money 20/20.
Lito Villanueva, RCBC Executive Vice President and Chief Innovations and Inclusion, joins a panel discussion on shaping the future of financial regulation at Money20/20 Asia in Bangkok, Thailand, alongside Senior Director Melchor Plabasan of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and Jo Yeo of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The session was moderated by Ian Fong, VP for Content of Money 20/20.
Yuchengco-led Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.’s (RCBC) executive called for an overhaul of regulatory frameworks across Asia, urging authorities to move from static oversight to an active partnership model to accelerate digital financial inclusion.
Speaking at the Money20/20 Asia conference in Bangkok, Lito Villanueva, who serves as RCBC’s executive vice president and chief innovations and inclusion officer, said the region has reached a tipping point where infrastructure must now be converted into measurable economic impact.
He argued that the “next frontier” for Asian fintech lies in the ability of regulators to remain as agile as the technology they oversee.
“The industry does not need more guidance documents,” Villanueva said during a panel on industry-authority expectations. “It needs a mirror it can check itself against before walking into a licensing review.”
Villanueva, also the founding chairman of FinTech Alliance PH, proposed a “living version” of regulatory sandbox graduation criteria. This real-time framework would allow firms to self-assess their readiness for full licensing, effectively transparentizing the transition from experimental phases to commercial operations.
He noted that such a regime of “co-creation” is essential to ensure financial systems remain resilient while expanding access to underserved populations.
The push for integrated standards comes as Philippine lenders and their regional peers face increasing pressure to modernize legacy systems.
RCBC has been a vocal proponent of using digital rails to reach the unbanked, a demographic that remains a significant portion of the Philippine market despite the rapid adoption of mobile wallets.
Villanueva also joined a separate discussion on “unified rails” and the development of a regional payment passport by 2026.
He emphasized that the success of these cross-border initiatives depends on public-private collaboration that prioritizes transparency and shared accountability.
He noted that without such alignment, the gap between tech-savvy urban centers and underserved rural sectors would likely widen.
RCBC’s focus on inclusive digital finance aligns with the broader goals of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, which aims to convert at least 50 percent of total retail payment transactions into digital form and onboard 70 percent of Filipino adults into the formal financial system.
For Villanueva, achieving these targets requires more than just technology; it requires a regulatory environment that functions as a partner rather than a hurdle.

Related Tags

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) Fintech Alliance Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)
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