ACI Worldwide, the real-time payments software company, and Security Bank Corporation, a universal bank in the Philippines, are working together to transform Security Bank’s real-time payment hub.
The partnership involves implementing ACI’s cloud-native Enterprise Payments Platform solution, which aims to unify the Bank’s payments platform and enable interoperability of payment services and gateways for various payment types including InstaPay, PDDTS, PESONet, Swift, and PhilPaSSplus on ISO2022 standards.
With this modernised payment hub, Security Bank aims to offer innovative products and services to its customers quickly as well as cost-effectively.
According to ACI Worldwide’s 2023 Prime-Time for Real-Time Report, real-time payment transactions in the Philippines are expected to experience significant growth from 2022 to 2027. As of 2022, real-time payments represented only 0.7 per cent of the payments volume, and the market is yet to reach its inflection point.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has set targets under its Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap (DPTR) 2020-2023 to increase electronic payments and the number of banked adults. The partnership with ACI also aims to support these goals and foster financial inclusion in the country.
‘Crucial for progress’
Leslie Choo, senior vice president, managing director – APAC at ACI Worldwide, says embracing digital real-time payments is essential for the Philippines’ economic progress, especially with its growing tech-savvy consumer base.
“Security Bank is at the forefront of driving customer centricity and redefining the digital real-time payments landscape in the country, and ACI is proud to support the Bank with cutting-edge payment hub technologies in leading this transformation,” said Choo. “Our robust solutions go from powering country-wide real-time payment ecosystems to interconnecting cross-border real-time payment networks and enabling the integration of different types of payments, such as the convergence of high-value and low-value payments into a single, unified, intelligent, cloud-native payment hub.”
Stephen John Bell, SVP and channels network group head at Security Bank, highlighted that digital real-time payments are becoming ubiquitous, and ACI’s modern and cloud-native architecture will meet customers’ dynamic demands in the digital era.
“This initiative and our investment in innovative payment technology are testament to our unwavering commitment to customer-centricity,” said Bell.
ACI Worldwide has extensive experience in powering payment hubs for major banks across Asia Pacific, including critical real-time ISO 20022 payments ecosystems and central infrastructures. Security Bank, on the other hand, is on a comprehensive digital transformation journey, investing heavily in technology upgrades to enhance its services.
