By Lorenz S. Marasigan, BusinessMirror
Open payments platform SynerFi, a collaboration between Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) and Higala Group Inc., is aiming to digitally onboard 40 rural banks into the InstaPay ecosystem within the year, starting with eight lenders that are now fully integrated into the real-time payments network.
At a press briefing on Wednesday, Higala President and CEO Winston Damarillo said the partners seek to accelerate the participation of smaller financial institutions in digital banking through the plug-and-play platform that enables mobile banking, digital onboarding, savings services, real-time transfers, and teller tools—without the need for rural banks to build their own in-house tech and compliance systems.
“This marks the beginning of empowering the underserved banking sector by enabling them to offer digital banking services that are otherwise available only to mainstream and traditional banks.”
Lito Villanueva, the chief innovation and inclusion officer at RCBC, said the first batch of rural banks onboarded are: Rural Bank of San Antonio Inc., Rural Bank of Lipa City (Batangas) Inc., Progressive Rural Bank Inc., Banco Abucay Inc., Rural Bank of Hermosa (Bataan) Inc., Money Mall Rural Bank Inc., First Philippine Partners Bank Inc., and Lagawe Highlands Rural Bank, Inc.
He noted that while there are 358 rural banks nationwide, only about 5 percent currently participate in real-time digital payments.
“We are targeting 40 rural banks to be onboarded, so far we have eight here. We are expecting more in the coming weeks. Phase 1 will cover 40, Phase 2 will cover more,” Villanueva said.
SynerFi said it eliminates heavy IT and compliance burdens often faced by small banks, enabling them to launch modern banking services without large capital outlays.
“Launching these services with zero capital intensity and without the heavy burden of building dedicated in-house tech and compliance teams is invaluable, enabling us to offer customers top-tier technology and services, truly digitizing our reach,” Rural Bank of San Antonio President Ronaldo Recto said.
To support its ambitious rollout, Higala recently extended its seed funding round from $2.8 million to $4 million. Investors include Talino Venture Studios, Chemonics International, Kadan Capital, Tenco Capital, and 1982 Ventures.
“Fresh funds from our investors will help accelerate Higala’s capabilities of powering SynerFi and helping more financial institutions grow and expand their services,” Damarillo said.
Chemonics International President and CEO Jamey Butcher said the expanded investment reflects “strong confidence” in the platform’s transformative potential.
“Through SynerFi, Rural Bank customers throughout the Philippines will now have access to mobile banking for the first time. This is a huge step towards financial inclusion, which Chemonics has been committed to supporting in the Philippines for almost 40 years.”
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