BIZ BUZZ: Fintech Alliance to reframe ‘80×80’ goal

The country’s biggest fintech lobby is changing lanes.

Remember the FinTech Alliance Philippines’ splashy “80×80” target unveiled at last year’s Manila Tech Summit? The ambition was bold: 80 percent of Filipino adults with formal financial accounts and 80 percent of retail payments done digitally by 2028.

Fast forward to today, and reality has nudged the group into recalibration mode.

Fresh data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ financial inclusion survey showed the share of Filipino adults with formal financial accounts slipped to 50 percent—down from 56 percent in 2021. Not exactly the trajectory fintech players were hoping for.

Founding chair Lito Villanueva now says the alliance will “reframe” its goal.

Creating accounts, it turns out, was the easy part. Keeping them alive? That’s the tougher grind.

“Having to create accounts is one thing. But ensuring those accounts remain active is another,” Villanueva said, signaling a pivot from rapid onboarding to sustained usage.

Alliance members are now working on incentives to encourage customers not just to open accounts—but to keep using them.