“Those who disrupt their industries change consumer behavior, alter economics and transform lives.”
Heather Simmons
The Fintech Philippines Association is the most inclusive financial technology trade association in the country. Established in 2017, it currently consists of over 80 institutional and individual members and is partnered with technology associations in Denmark, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. It is also a founding member of the Asia Pacific Fintech Network.
As the financial technology revolution sweeps the globe, the Association stands ready to usher the Philippines toward the forefront of the revolution. The new chairman and board of the Association gladly devote their experience and expertise toward furthering financial inclusion for Filipinos through technology, and helping Philippine businesses from all industries harness financial technology.
Dr. Justo Antonio Ortiz
Chairman of the Board
Passionate about inclusive prosperity and how technology could break the code, Chairman of the Board Dr. Justo Antonio Ortiz is an experienced multi-industry executive with a demonstrated history of working in the banking industry. He also serves as Chairman of the Board at UnionBank of the Philippines, one of the country’s most technologically advanced major banks. Dr. Ortiz believes in the power of user experience improvement as a mass adoption strategy.
Skilled in management, banking, strategic planning, business development, and business strategy, Dr. Ortiz is a strong entrepreneurship professional who graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree focused on Economics, honors program from Ateneo de Manila University. He was also conferred the degree of Doctor in Humanities-honoris causa, by the University of Santo Tomas.
Mark Vernon
Vice Chairman
A fintech entrepreneur and angel investor, Vice Chairman Mark Vernon’s multifaceted areas of expertise include multi-asset e-wallets, tokenization, peer lending, equity crowdfunding, security token offerings and trading, blockchain technology for international payments, and QR/NFC cashless payments.
With over 30 years of experience in the information-technology industry, Vernon is the founder of multiple information-technology start-ups—including fintech provider TAGCash and blockchain solutions provider ProofCore. He also serves as one of the investor-judges on The Final Pitch, an investment reality show on CNN Philippines.
Amor Maclang
Executive Director
If you are mentioning public relations and nationalism in the same breath, you must be talking about Executive Director Amor Maclang. At the ripe old age of 24 she founded Geiser Maclang, which went on to become one of the top public relations firms in the Philippines. An internationally awarded champion of marketing as a force for good, her projects demonstrate that you can hit your business goals while still doing good for the country. Maclang is the first communications professional in the country to become trained in ISO 31000 Crisis Management.
Maclang is the leading communications, marketing, and public relations forerunner in digital transformation, blockchain, cryptocurrency and other emerging technologies. She helps companies navigate through reputational, education and information gaps in any nascent technologies.
Jove Tapiador
Trustee
A veteran of the financial technology and property technology industries, Trustee Jove Tapiador focuses on impact in the fields of rural banking, microfinance, financial technology and property development. He seeks to make a difference in the areas of community development, financial inclusion, and health care that benefit developing economies and marginalized communities. Tapiador is most interested in strategic business development, digital banking, artificial intelligence and entrepreneurial innovations to support the above.
Tapiador currently serves as a board director at Telecom Live Content, an award-winning global pioneer in electronic mobile financial service solutions.
Arvie de Vera
Trustee
Trustee Arvie de Vera lives with a glass-half-full perspective, striving to make the lives of others better every day. Through his vast professional experience in banking, telecommunications, and new media, de Vera seeks out and executes groundbreaking technologies that help ease and enable cash management for corporations, retail customers, and even emerging communities.
De Vera serves as senior vice president and Fintech Business Group Head for UnionBank of the Philippines, where he is known for fostering an exciting working environment that blends passion and excellence that bring imagination and innovation to the top of the agenda. He also serves as Executive Director for UBX Investments, the technology investment arm of UnionBank.
Atty. Mark S. Gorriceta
Trustee
Trustee Atty. Mark S. Gorriceta is the Managing Partner of Gorriceta Africa Cauton & Saavedra, one of the Philippines’s top technology law firms. He also leads the corporate department of the firm. Atty. Gorriceta’s practice focuses on capital markets, technology, media and telecommunications (TMT), mergers and acquisitions, entertainment law, real estate, and taxation.
Atty. Gorriceta is a leader in TMT law in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia. He is a pioneering expert on the law on blockchain, virtual currencies, e-commerce, data privacy and artificial intelligence. He acts as legal counsel to leading tech and online companies.
A member of the Philippine Bar, Atty. Gorriceta graduated law with honors and holds a Bachelor of Arts, Political Science degree from the Ateneo de Manila University.
Edison Tsai
Trustee
Trustee Edison Tsai serves as the Executive Director of SeedIn Technology (Philippines), responsible for managing and developing the Philippines finance market, working closely with his overseas counterparts to ensure successful expansion and implementation of SeedIn into the Philippines. Tsai has over 17 years of experience in the development, management, and consultation of information-management projects for major private companies and government agencies in the Philippines.
Prior to SeedIn, Tsai worked with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as its Chief IT Consultant for implementation of key IT projects involving business registrations. He is also the founding CEO of Sigmasoft Technologies, which was acquired by Touch Solutions in 2011 just before going public on the Philippine Stock Exchange. Tsai holds a degree in Master of Science in Information Technology from De La Salle University.
Ida Tiongson
Trustee
Trustee Ida Tiongson is an experienced corporate president with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry. Tiongson’s specialties include risk management, customer service, strategic planning, business strategy and financial analysis.
Tiongson currently leads Opal Portfolio Investments (Spv-Amc) Inc. as president. She shares her knowledge and experience as a lecturer at the Institute of Corporate Directors.
Tiongson possesses strong business development skills with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration focused in Accounting and Business/Management from RMIT University.
Gerry S. Cruz
Trustee
A veteran of the Philippine financial technology, marketing technology, and property technology industries, Trustee Gerry S. Cruz specializes in property sales, leasing, management, joint ventures and investments, business-process outsourcing, cloud platform-as-a-service solutions for apps and web sites and business process and IT systems analysis.
Cruz founded the Fintech PH online community that eventually grew into the Fintech Philippines Association. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, Major in marketing Management, from De La Salle University.
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