Business mentors and entrepreneurs pushed the advancement of financial technology (FinTech) seen to be the future of safer, more efficient and more secure business operations.

During the 11th Asian Innovation Forum (AIF) held in Tanauan, Batangas, Small Business Corporation (SBCorp) vice president for innovations and advocacy Wally Calderon shares their institution as a believer in digital transformation.

“Like what I shared earlier, we use machine learning tools for our evaluation. The dream is that SBCorp can be a fintech company — catering innovative products and services. Hopefully, our MSMEs can also transform digitally,” he told the DAILY TRIBUNE.

Talking about how FinTech scales up micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), Calderon emphasized the importance of engaging businessmen in the digital sphere, stressing that traditional businesses rerouting their marketing strategies to digital markets, such as TikTok and Facebook Marketplace, are pivotal to maximizing their potential market. 

“[We can] market not only in the traditional physical space of MSMEs but also in the digital sphere,” he said, further stressing the need for educating the older generation on using technology.

Joms D. Ramirez II As part of their efforts, the SBCorp does roadshows on top of joining insightful dialogues such as the AIF. 

“On our own, we do similar events like this.  We bring Starlink because our target areas, we believe, have a challenge in internet connection. If they have a challenge in internet connection, most probably they are the type of people that I mentioned; maybe they have an aversion or a challenge in using new technology. We really need to embrace that technology or digital transformation; if not, they will get behind,” he said.

As per Maya Bank, the country’s leading digital bank, they aim to help MSMEs, particularly with payment solutions and payment updates.

“Because this is the number one problem. The risk of accepting fake money is high. Now, in the introduction of digital payment by Maya, we want to help them to digitalize their payment through QR, which is easy and user-friendly when it comes to MSMEs,” Maya Territory Solutions manager Renier Bacarra said.