Open finance has the potential to revolutionize the financial industry by democratizing access to credit for the unserved and underserved segments in the Philippines, according to the president of UBX, the driver of digital transformation in the Philippines.
UBX president and chief executive John Januszczak emphasized during his talk at the Digital Banker’s South East Asia Tour that open finance could unlock credit by leveraging non-traditional data that focuses on measuring character and credibility instead of credit scores, which are traditionally driven from banking transactions.
“Credit is the killer app for open finance in the Philippines because this is the biggest problem that has to be solved,” he said, noting that credit score is not sufficient to provide more Filipinos access to credit. Institutions, Januszczak suggested, could leverage AI to process alternative data for credit assessments, prioritizing the borrower’s credibility over traditional credit matrices.
AI, he said, plays a crucial role in analyzing vast amounts of data and uncovering patterns related to trust and credibility, which are essential for making informed lending decisions.