Artificial intelligence is taking center stage in the financial industry, with leaders at Hong Kong FinTech Week x StartmeupHK Festival emphasizing its growing role in expanding access to financial services.
At the event, Alfred Lo, Group Chief Technology Officer of Maya, said AI is becoming “the new infrastructure of finance.” He highlighted how Maya uses AI to better understand customers, broaden access to credit, and strengthen security across transactions.
Maya—powered by Maya Bank, the Philippines’ top digital bank, and Maya Philippines, the country’s leading payments processor—has integrated AI across its payments, savings, lending, and fraud prevention systems. As of June 2025, the company had more than 8.2 million bank customers and ₱152 billion in total loan releases.
Its AI models process tens of thousands of loan applications each day, analyzing thousands of behavioral and transactional signals. The technology has helped lower default rates since the bank’s launch in 2022 and supports efforts to close the country’s credit gap. According to the BSP’s 2021 Financial Inclusion Survey, only 4 percent of adults with loans borrowed from banks, while 57 percent relied on informal lenders.
“AI helps us design credit for inclusion, not exclusion,” Lo said, adding that responsible lending can make financial health accessible to more people.
Hong Kong FinTech Week 2025, organized with InvestHK and StartmeupHK, drew more than 30,000 participants and featured speakers from HSBC, Ant Group, Mastercard, and Maya. The event’s theme, “Fintech Redefined,” focused on how AI, digital assets, and cross-border innovation are reshaping global finance.
