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Steering the wave of change has been a steady theme in Lito Villanueva’s profession. ‘Mr Fintech’, as he’s referred to as within the Philippines, has been appointed because the Govt Vice President and Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer at Rizal Business Banking Company (RCBC). This comes on prime of being the Chief Digital Transformation Advisor for the Yuchengco Group of Corporations (YGC). Villanueva embraced this new problem after nearly 10 mixed years within the PLDT Group.
Regardless of the change in firm, Villanueva’s imaginative and prescient stays the identical: steady digital disruption. He elaborates: “If we speed up our execution of human-centric monetary providers with a pleasant buyer expertise, the chances are really countless.”
Extensively recognised as one of many main fintech executives in Asia, Villanueva joined RCBC in Could 2019, bringing 25 years’ expertise in telecommunications, funds, monetary expertise, international banking, digital transformation, regulatory engagement and worldwide improvement advisory. “This expertise contributes in the direction of how I innovate and implement,” he explains. “Equally, my stints with international leaders corresponding to Visa, the Worldwide Finance Company of the World Financial institution Group, Economist Intelligence Unit and extra, spanning over 35 nations, have given me a robust understanding of various markets, disciplines, and cultures that ready me effectively for the challenges that I needed to face.”
“With all issues mentioned, expertise just isn’t merely about handy entry. It needs to be related to make it adaptable, scalable, and sustainable” – Lito Villanueva, Govt Vice President and Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer at Rizal Business Banking Company
On the native entrance, Villanueva succeeded in making waves within the trade as Voyager Improvements’ FINTQnologies Managing Director beneath the PLDT Group, the place he created trailblazing engagements. Significantly noteworthy was the implementation of Lendr, the Philippines’ largest digital lending platform with loans disbursed in extra of US$1bnn in lower than 5 years.
Whereas Villanueva has many successes in his profession up to now, there stays one overarching driver behind how he has approached every of his roles: individuals. “I’ve been honoured with varied notable monikers in and by the trade” he shares, “such because the Philippines’ main inclusive digital finance accelerator, digital transformation champion, prime thought chief, and entrepreneurial sport changer, to call just a few. However my singular goal and keenness in championing all these initiatives, is to assist uplift the lives of Filipinos. Expertise is only a means to an finish with the shopper on the core.”
In accordance with Villanueva, this transformation isn’t purely restricted to RCBC, however relatively, is pushed by YGC. Key to this journey, he says, is Group Chairperson, Helen Yuchengco Dee who effectively understands the potential threats that organisations corresponding to RCBC face from digital disruption and the significance of embracing such a change. When approaching RCBC’s personal digital transformation, Villanueva first centered on “learn how to handle the three key boundaries in finishing up digitalisation: cultural, procedural, and structural. With the assist of the whole Group,” he provides, “we’re enhancing our competitiveness by convergence for data-driven product providing throughout the Group and collaborate by open banking to drive exponential development.”
Kind a pure expertise perspective, Villanueva believes that the introduction of these new digital options talked about beforehand will enormously enhance the expertise that RCBC is ready to present its clients. His first precedence, he explains, is the harmonising and optimising of the corporate’s present banking merchandise. “I’ve my digital transformation equation: 4Ps+3Vs = PDC,” he explains. “The 4 ‘Ps’ relate to individuals, course of, platform, and product – it’s all about thriving in a human-centric digital tradition and delivering an superior buyer expertise. Understanding the method is essential to remain forward of the event curve, and all of our platforms and enabling infrastructure have to be agile.” The three ‘Vs’ relate to velocity, worth, and quantity. “Agility and velocity in execution offers you the speed; worth is important in delivering buyer adoption and loyalty; whereas quantity offers development and scale,” says Villanueva. “The results of being profitable in these areas is PDC: revenue maximisation, information era, and value discount.”
Villanueva’s ardour for excelling within the discipline of buyer engagement and expertise, and dealing to assist Filipinos obtain higher monetary lives, is obvious. He firmly believes that RCBC’s digitalisation will carry extra success on this space. “Buying clients is comparatively easy, holding them to make use of your product is one other story,” he displays. “Earlier than deploying any new expertise, it’s essential to grasp precisely what the shopper wants – any product has to evoke feelings, it has to make a connection and an impression to their lives.”
One instance he cites is the shift in RCBCs cellular point-of-sale (mPOS) enterprise and its rebrand to ATM Go!, which noticed Villanueva pull out greater than 1,000 mPOS gadgets that had been idle and redeploy them to retailers that had excessive velocity transactions. This transfer led to year-on-year development of 622% and 515% in transaction quantity and transaction worth respectively, and has seen extra 100 rural banks, microfinance, cooperatives and different retailers interact with the initiative.
The sort of work has even larger significance throughout the context of the numerous unbanked society within the Philippines. “Creating an government place like mine is a manifestation of YGC and RCBC’s wider dedication and drive to contribute within the authorities’s push to scale inclusive development by expertise,” says Villanueva, including that new expertise can be key to serving these clients. “You can not scale something utilizing legacy or conventional banking, or by the present department community system. Banking, not banks, as we speak is all about always-on engagement. In reaching this, constructing out an ecosystem with our strategic companions will make the work much more rewarding and thrilling. It’s merely O2O, or offline to on-line and vice versa. In a growing nation just like the Philippines, you will need to strike a steadiness between bricks and clicks.”
As we usher within the new decade, 2020 is poised to be a milestone yr in creating a strong and sustainable digital financial system. It’s sure that the Philippines is geared as much as make the leap from a lower-middle earnings nation to an upper-middle earnings nation within the close to time period. Rooted in an growing urbanisation and a rising younger inhabitants, the Philippines’ financial system is in a robust standing within the ASEAN area.
The very fact stays, nevertheless, that there’s nonetheless a digital and monetary divide within the area that must be bridged. “Filipinos are identified to climate socio-economic trials creatively,” says Villanueva. “‘Diskarte’ is a Filipino slang for resilience, creativity, resourcefulness, and – in some cases – innovation, which in fact redounds to surviving towards all odds. Merely put, it’s GRIT, the Filipino manner.”
In scaling digitalisation with rising client adoption, RCBC is launching the Philippines’ first inclusion tremendous app, referred to as DiskarTech – a fusion of grit and enabling applied sciences. “With DiskarTech, we can be empowering Filipinos by fuelling their monetary aspirations,” Villanueva explains. “It goals to offer equal alternatives within the countryside, catering to the monetary entry poor section to be gainfully engaged within the nation’s financial actions. Monetary inclusion is, the truth is, a journey in itself,” he stresses.
DiskarTech is a three-in-one inclusion tremendous app that can unlock the large potential of each Filipino. Within the course of, ‘I-preneurs’ will emerge as a development hack and self-help enabler, permitting enterprising Filipinos to earn from providing DiskarTech sachet banking providers. They’ll now be capable to facilitate DiskarTech transactions for many who haven’t any cellphones, or those that wouldn’t have any information service. That is an inclusive intervention that cuts throughout segments.
Villanueva factors out that: “With all issues mentioned, expertise just isn’t merely about handy entry. It needs to be related to make it adaptable, scalable, and sustainable.”
The enterprise, he states, is at all times evolving. Nevertheless, he’s assured that the robust management and clear strategic path beneath the dynamic and digital-savvy RCBC President and CEO Eugene Acevedo imply that “2020 can be an thrilling yr for Filipino shoppers as we drive in the direction of accelerating inclusive digital finance.”
