Fintech startup Salmon secures Philippine banking license after acquiring controlling stake in rural bank

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Southeast Asia fintech startup Salmon has become a licensed bank in the Philippines after it acquired a controlling interest in a local bank in Laguna.

Salmon announced that the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has allowed the company’s acquisition of the controlling interest in the Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa, a well-respected licensed financial institution serving Filipino communities since 1963.

Salmon will own 59.7% of the bank upon the completion of its transaction, which is expected to conclude in the coming weeks.

The license enables Salmon to offer artificial intelligence (AI)-centric consumer credit and debit products in the Philippines.

The fintech firm said this will also bolster access to modern banking services for millions of underbanked Filipinos in key regions, including Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao, where Salmon plans to open new branches, subject to BSP approval.

“The transaction will help us reach additional underserved communities in the Philippines, bringing modern, customer-centric, and easy-to-access financial services to more people, regardless of smartphone ownership or customer location, as we combine offline and online settings for providing our services,” Raffy Montemayor, Salmon’s Co-Founder and Business Head in the Philippines said in a statement.

“This transaction aligns seamlessly with our mission and values to expand financial inclusion and offer modern financial products to every Filipino, and we look forward to continuing our productive cooperation with the BSP to help us fulfill this mission,” Montemayor added.

The fintech firm said it will maintain and enhance the Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa’s offline presence by injecting significant capital and technology into the bank to upgrade its offering for all customers.

Salmon was established in July 2022 to empower the underbanked and underserved communities in Southeast Asia with a particular focus on enabling access to credit.

The rise of fintech in the Philippines

In a 2023 report, Fintech Philippines said the sector grew by more than 38%, rising from 216 companies two years ago to 299 in August 2023.

The report also revealed that the fintech sector in the country recorded considerable growth between January 2022 and mid-2023.

The figures are in stark contrast to trends observed in other countries, such as Hong Kong and Switzerland, where the growth of the fintech sector has stalled over the past years.

In its Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap 2020-2023, the BSP said the usage of digital payments facilitates the growth of fintech businesses engaged in e-commerce as the consumption of goods and services is increasingly driven by online purchases.

The latest Statistica data shows the Internet penetration rate in the Philippines is 75%, driven by improved Internet infrastructures in the country.

The country’s Internet population is among the highest in the Asia Pacific region.

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