Future of money

When we traveled years ago, we carried dollars and traveler's checks.

- STATIC MARVIN TORT

Then we moved to plastic, mainly credit cards. Now we pay with phones, QR codes, and virtual cards whose numbers live in a phone app. Payments keep getting faster and smarter as more people rely on nonbanks for services that used to live only inside banks.We are living through a second revolution in money. Cash and checks yielded to cards, and cards are yielding to softwaredefined payments. E-wallets, QR codes, instant transfers, and phone apps now carry a growing share of our daily transactions. The question is whether our rules can keep up with the technology that moves our money.

I am pro-innovation, and I am also pro-trust. People need confidence that rules protect them and their savings. That means the same risks should face the same rules. Ifa firm takes money, moves money, or lends at scale, it should follow basic safeguards whether it holds a bank license or not.

Andas payments go real time and crossborder, safety and transparency must be built in from the start. Prices should be clear, refunds easy, and help quick when things go wrong. The least tech-savvy Filipino should be safe, by default.

Three recent developments show why we should review and future-proof our money rules. First, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reopened digital-bank licensing in early 2025 with a cap of 10 players, then closed new applications before yearend to focus on quality and supervision.

Second, mobile super-apps now ship numberless, app-controlled credit cards such as Maya Black. These products reduce skimming and card-not-present fraud with dynamic codes and in-app controls, but they rely on the phone and on clearer dispute rules that ordinary users can understand and use.