Beyond GCash and Maya: 30 emerging fintech startups rewiring money in the Philippines
Filipinos have never needed a bank to move money. They have the padala, the paluwagan savings circle, the five-six lender who knows your mother, and the sari-sari store owner whose notebook doubles as the country’s most informal credit bureau. For decades, that ingenuity filled the gap left by banks that simply did not want small […] The post Beyond GCash and Maya: 30 emerging fintech startups…
The Philippines has long been a country where banking was inaccessible to many, relying instead on informal methods like padala, paluwagan savings circles, and five-six lenders. This gap is now being filled by a new wave of 30 emerging fintech startups founded between 2018 and 2026. These companies are either headquartered in the Philippines or have a strong focus on the Philippine market.
The list includes digital banks, payments, remittances, and lending companies. Digital banks like Tonik and UNO Digital Bank aim to provide high-yield deposits and credit to mass affluent customers. Startups like Zed, PayMongo, and NextPay focus on credit cards, payments, and business accounts for MSMEs. Other notable startups include Higala, which bridges rural banks into InstaPay; TANGGapp, a peer-to-peer remittance app; Pouch.ph, a Lightning Network wallet; and RuralNet, an insurtech brokerage that helps distribute microinsurance in rural areas.
The lending and credit sector is dominated by startups like Salmon, Advance, and others that provide loans to rural and small businesses. Despite the growth of these startups, regional funding for Southeast Asian fintechs has cooled, with a 40% decline in the first nine months of 2025 compared to 2021.
Written by urgent.news from e27's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
