No easy digibank path in PH

The Philippines' central bank is looking to curb a digibank shortcut. Meanwhile, HSBC is considering job cuts, and we're hiring (humans).

Read from your browser Daily Newsletter Welcome to Tech in Asia's daily newsletter, your essential dose of Asia's tech and startup buzz. Subscribe to this newsletter or send story tips to editors@techinasia.com. Ensure our articles appear in your Google searches: IN FOCUS The Philippines wants to crack down on digital-first rural banks A brutal set of layoffs could be coming at HSBC Tech in Asia's newsroom is hiring (humans, not bots) Hello Betamax, Sometimes, the fastest way forward isn't the straight path but a workaround. That's exactly what's been happening in the Philippines' banking scene. When the central bank stopped issuing new digital banking licenses in August 2021, players that missed the window found another way in: acquiring rural banks. This year, the central bank is keen to put a stop to this "shortcut." In February, it proposed a rule that could require rural banks to hold 1 billion pesos (US$16.7 million) in capital if more than 30% of their customers are acquired digitally, matching the rule for digital banks. Today's top story looks at the possible fallout, from the risk of stalling rural banks' digital push to whether this really stops digibank hopefuls from entering through the backdoor. Meanwhile, more banks are looking at "shortcuts" on how to operate their business. HSBC is reportedly laying off 20,000 jobs - about 10% of its global workforce - amid the firm's faster adoption of AI. At a time when everyone seems to want to optimize every part of their lives, most go for more AI. Here in Tech in Asia though, while we embrace the tech, we still wish more humans were part of the team. In fact, we're hiring not just one, but two new (human) reporters. Read on to learn more. Elyssa Lopez, journalist TOP STORY PH reins in 'backdoor' digital banks with proposed cap. Who pays? Under the Rural Banks' Act of the Philippines, rural banks are meant to extend financing in areas where farming is the main source of livelihood. But in the past five years, a crop of digital-centric rural banks have risen, in a bid to enter the country's digital banking scene. The country's central bank is keen to regulate these players just as tightly as licensed digital banks. Not only would the move change the playbook of fintech firms who want to enter the Philippine digibank space through rural bank acquisitions, it could also affect traditional rural banks looking to digitalize. OUR NEWSROOM IS HIRING We're hiring for two editorial roles at Tech in Asia, a place to write longer, in-depth stories with real judgment and curiosity. We're looking for: An AI beat reporter to dig deep and make sense of the forces shaping the AI scene of Southeast Asia and the broader Asian market. You'll have the opportunity to follow one of the most important tech beats at the moment. A senior journalist/editor to help shape how we cover the region's tech economy - startups, founders, capital flows, and market shifts. Click through the links above for details. Send your resume, cover letter, and writing samples to editors@techinasia.com and convince us why you are the top choice. TRENDING NEWS 1️⃣ HSBC weighs 20,000 job cuts as AI reshapes operations The banking giant is reportedly seeking a US$1.5 billion cost-savings target by the end of H1 2026. HSBC expects to integrate more AI into its customer service and transaction monitoring operations. 2️⃣ Alibaba, Baidu plan to raise AI cloud prices up to 34% The Chinese cloud providers cited the rising infrastructure costs for AI compute as the reason behind the price changes. It also follows their US counterparts' announcements of price hikes, with Google and AWS expected to increase fees on some services by up to 100% later this year. 3️⃣ Tencent revenue rises 13% as it ramps up agentic AI Tencent recorded US$28.3 billion in revenue for Q4 2025, thanks to the slew of agentic AI products it launched in the past year. It's the company's fifth straight quarter of double-digit revenue growth. 4️⃣ India's CometChat raises $6.5m to scale AI agents The platform helps businesses create conversational agents without needing specialized expertise in coding or AI. With the new round, CometChat has raised US$21.1 million in total funding. 5️⃣ OpenAI debuts GPT-5.4 mini, nano to cut AI costs GPT-5.4 mini can be deployed for agentic and multimodal tasks, while GPT-5.4 nano is recommended for simpler use cases like data classification and data extraction. 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From capital flows to emerging industries, the conversations at AES influence how the region moves forward. In this same spirit, bring your circle to AES and get 20% off when you purchase two delegate passes. Secure your spots here. WHO'S HIRING You can post a job here or search for jobs here. Digital Marketing Specialist at Boleh Dicoba Digital | Jakarta, Indonesia Secretary at Kumparan | Jakarta, Indonesia Data Analyst at Gefami Services Indonesia | Sunter, Indonesia ADVERTISE | SUBSCRIBE | HIRE | FIND JOBS P.S. Don't miss out on the biggest tech news and analysis. Add newsletter@techinasia.com to your address book, contacts, or safe sender list. Or simply move us into your inbox. Tech in Asia thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Too many emails? Switch to a different frequency or get new content through our preference center, or unsubscribe. You can also remove yourself from all Tech in Asia emails over here. 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