LOCAL community bank Cantilan Bank recently became the country’s first financial institution regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to deploy cloud technology to provide digital financial services to its clients.
“The pioneering introduction of cloud banking in the Philippines is a key moment in solving the challenges of financial inclusion. Cloud technology that meets the requirements of the BSP’s Circular 808 is enhancing the competitiveness of rural banks and enabling them to provide affordable, high-quality financial services,” said the BSP in a press statement.
Zagreb, Croatia-based financial inclusion company Oradian and the Asian Development Bank provided the support to Cantilan Bank to help BSP in its digital transformation road map that enables the delivery of digital financial services to unbanked individuals in rural communities. Oradian delivered its cloud-based core banking system, technical training and global best practices to all of Cantilan Bank’s 44 branches across 12 provinces in Mindanao and the Visayas regions.
With its cloud-based technology on board, Cantilan Bank now has expanded its services offering from the brick-and-mortar setup to digital financial services.
Tanya Hotchkiss, executive vice president of Cantilan Bank, said the introduction of cloud technology will enable the bank to reach out to more customers. Cloud technology is proving to fast-track our ability to serve more unbanked individuals throughout Mindanao,” she said.
“We worked closely with Cantilan Bank to digitize their operations and processes, and enable their businesses to run on one platform—across all branches. Regulatory reporting is simplified and more efficient with the dynamic reporting platform,” said Julian Oehrlein, head of product and cofounder of Oradian.
With the consolidation of Cantilan Bank’s processes and data, Oehrlein said the bank can now focus on servicing clients.
Kelly Hattel, senior financial sector specialist, Southeast Asia department of the Asian Development Bank, said they hope the project will be successful so it can be used as template for future financial inclusion initiatives. “We want to leverage the success of this pilot to encourage other financial institutions to look at how technology can be used to strengthen their core operations, better meet the needs of their clients through digital products and services, and grow their outreach especially in rural areas to the previously unbanked throughout the Philippines,” she said.
Oradian is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider for financial institutions in remote communities. The company is serving over 75 financial institutions in 11 countries with a concentration in Nigeria and the Philippines. Further, it provides access to over 3 million end-clients.
Based in Cantilan, Surigao del Sur, the 39-year-old bank provides services to its clients through its collective network of 44 branches and offices, and 24 automated teller machiness that are strategically located across Caraga region, Misamis Oriental, Compostela Valley, Davao and Southern Leyte.