TAGUIG CITY, PHILIPPINES - Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC)’s Executive Vice President and Chief Innovations, Lito Villanueva, laid out proposals in accelerating regional digital finance during the ASEAN-BAC–APEC Business Advisory Council Philippines Annual Asia-Pacific Financial Forum (APFF) Southeast Asia last April 8, 2026 at the Grand Hyatt Manila, Taguig City.
Villanueva joined the high-level conference attended by Finance Ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) as a keynote speaker as well as a panelist in a session focused on digital payment connectivity. In both speaking engagements, Villanueva demonstrated and lauded present and successful efforts nationally to push the boundaries of digital finance whilst proposed regulatory frameworks that would propel regional digital finance further.
In his keynote speech, Villanueva underscored the importance of interoperability within regulatory frameworks, the adoption of cross-border digital signatures and reciprocal KYC protocols, and the establishment of a regional Fraud Intelligence Sharing (FIDS) network.
“We must embed interoperability by design at the core of our regulatory frameworks, moving beyond voluntary standards toward a mandatory, unified architecture where systems are engineered to be borderless from inception,” Villanueva emphasized in his speech.
“Simultaneously, we must enable cross-border digital signatures and reciprocal KYC protocols, adopting a "Check Once, Use Everywhere" model that can significantly reduce compliance burdens and turn days of onboarding friction into seconds of seamless access,” Villanueva added.
“Finally, we must operationalize a regional Fraud Intelligence
Sharing (FIDS) network, treating cybersecurity not as a competitive secret but as a collective "Mutual Defense Pact" where anonymized threat data moves faster than the fraudsters themselves,” Villanueva concluded.
Villanueva, who is also the FinTech Alliance PH Chairman, presented these proposals within the context of the ASEAN as the fastest-growing internet market globally, projected to reach US$ 1 trillion, potentially doubling to US$ 2 trillion after the successful implementation of the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agenda (DEFA).
In addition, Villanueva stressed regional cooperation in combatting and preparing for fraudulent activity as a result of the successful launch of the FIDS in the Philippines. Villanueva also shared his insights and experiences on how regulators can help support banks in the continent to prepare for seamless, secure, and inclusive cross-border payment connectivity in a panel session entitled “Advancing Readiness for Digital Payment Connectivity” moderated by veteran broadcast journalist Rico Hizon, alongside Andrew McCormack, Chief Executive Officer of Nexus Global Payments; Runchana Pongsaparn, Group Head and Lead Economist at the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO); and Chatchai Dusadenoad, Managing Director of National ITMX Co., Ltd.
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