Building what’s next

Today, Manila hosts the ASEAN Tech Summit 2026, where one of the region’s most important conversations on technology and finance begins.

I open the summit with a forecast, not a fact: by 2030, the most important financial transaction in ASEAN may not involve a human being at all. It will be an AI agent acting on someone’s behalf, settling instantly in tokenized value, protected by security systems operating quietly in the background.

The numbers underscore why this matters. Southeast Asia’s digital economy has surpassed $300 billion in gross merchandise value, more than seven times its size a decade ago. ASEAN, home to nearly 690 million people, is already the world’s fifth-largest economy and is projected to become the fourth largest by 2030.

We are no longer catching up with the digital economy. We are helping shape it.

Three powerful forces are converging to define the next chapter of financial services, and how ASEAN responds to them will determine whether the region simply participates in the digital economy or leads it.

The first is agentic AI. Beyond chatbots, intelligent agents will underwrite businesses with limited credit histories but rich transaction data, execute trade finance autonomously, negotiate transactions on behalf of consumers and enterprises, optimize treasury operations and even manage personal financial portfolios. AI is evolving from a productivity tool into an economic actor capable of making decisions, initiating transactions and creating value at machine speed.

The second is digital assets. Tokenization and stablecoins are emerging as the native payment rails for this machine-speed economy. They have the potential to reduce the five to eight percent costs embedded in ASEAN’s more than $70 billion annual remittance flows while enabling faster cross-border settlements, more efficient trade, programmable finance and greater access to capital for businesses of every size.

The third, and perhaps the most critical, is cybersecurity. The United Nations estimates that transnational scams across East and Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand generated up to US$114 billion last year. An AI agent capable of moving money instantly can also become a target for fraud just as quickly. Deepfakes, synthetic identities, AI-enabled phishing, and automated financial crime are evolving just as rapidly as the technologies designed to improve our lives.

Security can no longer be an afterthought. It must become the foundation of every digital financial system we build. Trust will ultimately be ASEAN’s most valuable digital infrastructure.

That is why I believe ASEAN must pursue two bold regional initiatives:

First, a private sector-led ASEAN Resiliency Wealth Fund that pools long-term regional capital to strengthen economic resilience, finance strategic digital infrastructure, accelerate innovation and support recovery during periods of geopolitical or economic uncertainty. Rather than relying solely on government financing, the region’s banks, institutional investors, sovereign funds, insurers, pension funds and leading corporations can work together to build a financial platform designed by ASEAN, for ASEAN. Regional challenges increasingly require regional capital with regional priorities.

Second, ASEAN should establish a Network Anti-Scam Hub that enables real-time intelligence sharing, coordinated investigations and cross-border responses against digital fraud. Criminal syndicates already operate seamlessly across jurisdictions. Our defenses must become just as connected. Building upon successful initiatives such as Singapore’s Project FRONTIER+, ASEAN has an opportunity to create one of the world’s strongest collaborative cyber defense ecosystems.

This summit is not about imagining the future. It is about designing it.

The two-day program reflects that ambition. It opens with the launch of the 2026 Philippine FinTech Report, followed by keynote addresses from Global Finance and Technology Network Group CEO Sophendu Mohanty and Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao, who will discuss stablecoins, digital assets, AI and the future of borderless finance across ASEAN.

Discussions throughout the summit will tackle financial inclusion, AI economics, the ASEAN Resiliency Wealth Fund, the Luzon Economic Corridor, deepfakes and AI-enabled cybercrime, tokenized digital identity, cybersecurity and open finance. I will also join fellow leaders of Asia’s fintech associations to discuss how regional collaboration must evolve to keep pace with technological change.

Among the summit’s highlights is the launch of the 2026 Philippine FinTech Report, providing one of the most comprehensive snapshots of the country’s digital finance ecosystem.

The report maps the Philippine fintech landscape, analyzes digital payment trends across sectors, reviews developments in digital banking, virtual assets, financial inclusion, open finance, anti-fraud regulation, IPO activity and key policy reforms. More importantly, it provides policymakers, regulators, investors and innovators with a practical benchmark for where the industry stands today and where it must go next.

Another milestone is the announcement of a long-term partnership between the Global Finance and Technology Network (GFTN) and the Philippines.

The partnership focuses on three priorities: strengthening ASEAN’s leadership in inclusive financial innovation, advancing financial health and developing AI-ready talent.

It will be anchored by three initiatives: bringing GFTN’s flagship Select Series to Manila; launching the ASEAN Financial Health Challenge 2026 with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to accelerate innovation and public-private collaboration and establishing a five-year AI Horizon Philippines Programme to equip young Filipinos with globally recognized AI and digital finance skills while connecting them to GFTN’s global network spanning more than 140 countries.

None of this is happening by coincidence.

The Philippines serves as ASEAN Chair this year, giving us a unique opportunity to help shape the region’s digital agenda. Hosting the ASEAN Tech Summit during our chairmanship means that many of the ideas discussed here can directly influence regional priorities and policy conversations.

That responsibility comes with credibility. Over the past several years, the Philippines has built a vibrant fintech ecosystem, strengthened digital payments, expanded financial inclusion, embraced open finance, and introduced bold regulatory reforms that position the country as one of the region’s emerging leaders in digital innovation. Our experience demonstrates that innovation and regulation do not have to compete. When thoughtfully designed, they reinforce one another to create stronger markets and greater consumer trust.

This summit is therefore more than a gathering of policymakers, regulators, technology companies, financial institutions, startups, investors, and development partners. It is a working session for the future of ASEAN’s digital economy.

The technologies transforming finance are advancing faster than ever. The decisions we make today will determine whether they expand opportunity or deepen inequality, whether they strengthen trust or create new vulnerabilities, and whether ASEAN becomes a consumer of global innovation or one of its architects.

The blueprint is before us. The talent is here. The capital is increasingly available. The partnerships are forming. What remains is the collective resolve to act together with urgency and purpose.

If we get this right, ASEAN will not simply participate in the future of digital finance. We will help define it.

The time to build is now.

Lito Villanueva is the Philippines’ leading thought leader in inclusive digital finance. As EVP and Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer of RCBC, he has driven large-scale digital initiatives that advanced financial inclusion. He is the founding chairman of FinTech Alliance PH, representing 95% of the country’s digital retail financial transactions with an aggregate user base in excess of 100 million, and the first global chairman of the Alliance of Digital Finance Associations. Recognized as a People Asia Men Who Matter 2025, Asia Trailblazer, and AGORA Awardee, he continues to shape the fintech landscape in the Philippines and beyond.