Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. is deepening its push into embedded finance, expanding its Banking-as-a-Service, application programming interface, and ecosystem banking capabilities as financial services increasingly move into the digital platforms where consumers and businesses already transact.
The bank’s strategy puts it in a race to make banking less a destination and more an invisible utility powering commerce, mobility, government services, remittances, and digital marketplaces.
RCBC Executive Vice President and Chief Innovations and Inclusion Officer Lito Villanueva outlined the strategy at the LEAP East Conference in Hong Kong, where he joined executives from Thunes, HSBC, and Global Payments in discussing how embedded finance is reshaping financial services.
“Banking is no longer a destination. It is becoming an embedded capability that enables commerce wherever customers are,” Villanueva said.
Through its BaaS platform, RCBC allows fintechs, enterprises, digital platforms, and other partners to integrate services such as account opening, payments, collections, fund transfers, virtual accounts, lending, and identity verification directly into their platforms.
The approach gives businesses access to banking infrastructure without having to build it themselves, while allowing RCBC to reach customers beyond traditional branches and banking applications.
Its growing API ecosystem already supports partnerships spanning digital commerce, transport, government services, remittances, and financial inclusion. The bank has also introduced a US Virtual Account service that allows customers and businesses to receive US dollar payments through dedicated US-based accounts without maintaining a physical US bank account.
Payment tokenization is another piece of the strategy, replacing sensitive card credentials with secure digital tokens to support safer online, mobile, and contactless transactions.
RCBC is also using digital banking to push affordability. It offers unlimited free person-to-person transfers through InstaPay and PESONet on RCBC Pulz and RCBC DiskarTech, removing transaction fees for everyday digital transfers.
The bigger strategic shift is clear. RCBC is betting that future banking relationships will be built not only through banking apps, but through the platforms where Filipinos shop, travel, work, receive money, and pay bills.
Villanueva said that standalone banking applications will not define the next generation of banking, but trusted ecosystems.
LEAP East, the conference’s first edition outside Saudi Arabia, drew more than 25,000 participants, highlighting the growing regional focus on fintech, artificial intelligence, digital commerce, and cross-border financial services.
