The Philippines’ next financial inclusion challenge is no longer simply getting more people to open financial accounts, according to Maya. The company says the focus should increasingly shift toward whether those accounts are helping Filipinos build savings, gain access to responsible credit, grow businesses, and become better prepared for financial shocks.
Speaking at the ASEAN Tech Summit Manila 2026, Toff Rada, head of corporate affairs at Maya, said financial inclusion should be measured by improvements in financial security and opportunity rather than account ownership alone. “Access was the first phase of financial inclusion. The next phase is financial health,” Rada said. “The question is no longer simply whether Filipinos have a financial account, but whether that account is making their lives better and more secure.”
Account ownership has grown, but gaps remain
Formal account ownership in the Philippines has more than doubled over the past decade, rising from 22% in 2015 to around 50% in 2025. Despite that progress, Maya said many Filipinos continue to use their accounts mainly for transactions and remain underserved by formal savings and credit products.
Rada pointed to national payment rails, digital identity, improvements in credit information, and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ digital banking framework as important foundations for financial inclusion. He said these systems still need to be strengthened and sustained, with success ultimately measured by whether they help consumers and businesses improve their financial position.
Payments can create useful financial signals
Digital payments can give financial institutions more information about consumers and businesses that have little or no traditional credit history. When used responsibly and with appropriate safeguards, everyday financial activity can provide signals on how people and businesses manage money, which may support better-informed savings, credit, and business-financing products.
“Every payment is a data point,” Rada said. “Used responsibly, those signals can help make more people and businesses visible to the formal financial system and improve their access to financial services.”
Through the Maya app and Maya Business, the company sees payment activity as a possible starting point for a broader financial relationship that can include savings and credit. AI also plays a role in how Maya uses data across digital onboarding, personalization, credit assessment, fraud detection, and customer protection.
Building financial literacy into the product
Maya also argues that financial education should not depend solely on seminars or standalone campaigns. Instead, financial products themselves should help customers make better decisions as they save, spend, and borrow.
The company points to its high-yield savings and time deposit products, where customers can unlock time-bound savings-rate boosts and other rewards by completing defined activities. Maya XP extends this approach through a personalized engagement score, missions, challenges, and prompts that guide users toward their next actions while offering relevant rewards and benefits.
“For financial institutions, financial literacy cannot sit outside the product,” Rada said. “It has to be built into the experience through clear feedback, relevant incentives and timely nudges that help healthier financial habits become second nature.”
A broader ASEAN agenda for financial health
For the wider ASEAN region, Rada called for common ways of measuring financial health as well as more interoperable payment and data systems. The aim is to move beyond measuring digital adoption purely through accounts and transactions and toward indicators that reflect savings, resilience, responsible borrowing, and business growth.
Rada joined the panel discussion “Beyond Financial Inclusion: Advancing Financial Health at Scale” at the ASEAN Tech Summit Manila 2026, co-organized by FinTech Alliance.PH and the ASEAN Business Advisory Council Philippines. Other panelists included Kristine Orlina, deputy director at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas; Niraan de Silva, vice president of VNPay JSC Vietnam; CJ Lacsican, country head of Grab Financial Group; Areson Cuevas, country manager of Wise Philippines; Lawrence Ferrer, president and CEO of Bayad; and Sarah Corley, CEO of the Alliance of Digital Finance and Fintech Association.
In Summary
Maya says the next phase of financial inclusion should focus on financial resilience rather than access alone. The company sees digital payments, data, AI, savings products, credit tools, and product-based financial education as ways to help Filipinos build stronger financial habits and gain better access to formal financial services.