The recognition highlights Maya’s integrated approach to governance, fraud prevention, customer protection, and real-time risk management.
Maya chief risk and compliance officer Julie Reyes has been named Governance, Risk and Compliance Advocate of the Year at the WFIS Philippines Awards 2026, marking her second win in the category after receiving the same recognition in 2024.
The award comes as Maya continues to emphasize the role of risk and compliance in digital finance, where credit decisions, identity verification, fraud detection, and transaction monitoring increasingly happen in real time.
“Digital finance should be fast, but speed has to be matched by sound judgment, clear guardrails and accountability,” Reyes said. “Risk and compliance should help the business make better decisions as products and services are developed, not appear only at the end.”
One framework across banking and payments
Reyes was cited for championing the One Maya Governance Framework, which aligns risk standards, controls, escalation paths, and oversight across Maya’s banking and payments businesses.
Maya Bank and Maya Philippines remain separately governed, with their own licenses, boards, and regulatory and compliance responsibilities. The framework is designed to let risk and compliance teams work more closely with business, technology, and operations while keeping each regulated entity’s accountabilities clear.
This structure allows risk expertise to inform areas such as credit assessment, fraud management, and customer protection earlier in the decision-making process.
Real-time and AI-assisted fraud controls
For fraud and financial crime, Maya uses real-time and AI-assisted capabilities to detect suspicious patterns and support investigations.
Controls extend across the customer relationship, including onboarding, authentication, account recovery, profile changes, and transaction monitoring.
Speaking during a WFIS panel, Reyes also pointed to increasingly sophisticated forms of impersonation and identity fraud, including deepfakes, as emerging risks for the financial sector. She called for layered, risk-based controls throughout the customer journey, together with closer coordination among banks, telcos, technology platforms, and authorities.
Regulatory requirements continue to tighten
The discussion also comes as financial institutions continue implementing the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Actand related Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas rules.
The release specifically cites BSP Circular No. 1213, which strengthened requirements around fraud monitoring, authentication, and account protection.
For financial institutions, the challenge is not simply adding more controls, but making sure those controls can keep pace with the speed of digital transactions while still supporting legitimate customer activity.
“Strong risk management is a shared responsibility,” Reyes said. “This recognition reflects the work of teams across Maya who make careful decisions every day and continue strengthening how we protect customers and support responsible growth.”
Recognition for governance and responsible growth
The GRC Advocate of the Year award recognizes professionals for their contributions to governance, risk, and compliance while helping their organizations pursue secure and responsible growth.
The World Financial Innovation Series Philippines, organized by Tradepass, brings together financial institutions, regulators, technology providers, and industry leaders to discuss developments across banking and financial services.