Talino Venture Studios, a global venture studio for sustainable innovation, teamed up with Chemonics International, a leading sustainable development firm, to create and seed-fund Higala, the first inclusive instant payment system (IIPS) startup in the Philippines.
As an IIPS, Higala will serve as a financial superhighway that will connect thrift banks, rural banks and microfinance institutions that are currently excluded from payment networks because of high switching and on-ramp costs.
Despite the presence of 400 rural banks in the Philippines, a mere 18 are part of InstaPay.
“Higala will help modernize our country’s digital financial infrastructures and enable the participation of financial institutions through our network,” said Higala president and chief executive Vice Catudio.
“Our goal is to make banking more inclusive, especially to the underserved segments of the population that have limited access to traditional banking services,” Catudio said.
Higala promotes inclusion by lowering the cost of real-time payments, which helps financial institutions to reasonably price their instant payments. It also aims to provide inclusive financial solutions to the underbanked as well as rapidly enable merchants to accept digital payments.
It is also building a core instant payment technology that can accommodate financial institutions of all sizes and turn banks into digital banks through white label app services.
“At Talino, we are committed to the sustainable execution of development that benefits all stakeholders, especially the unbanked,” said Talino chief executive Winston Damarillo.
“With Talino and Chemonics providing funding for Higala, we bring together the impact of venture investing and global good to expand the benefits of financial inclusion to segments that need them most,” he said.
Jamey Butcher, Chemonics president and chief executive, said they are excited “to embark on a new journey with Higala, a testament to our commitment to innovation and financial inclusion in the Philippines and other dynamic markets across the globe.”
“Drawing from three decades of impactful partnerships and success in the economic growth space in the Philippines, Higala embodies our vision for affordable, real-time transactions accessible to all Filipino communities,” said Butcher.