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March 18, 2025

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Manila, Philippines - Higala, the pioneering Inclusive Instant Payment System in the Philippines, has extended its seed funding round to $2.8 million with fresh funds from Talino Venture Studios, an award-winning global venture studio for sustainable innovation, and 1982 Ventures.

The seed fund extension round was led by 1982 Ventures, a Singapore-licensed venture capital firm that focuses on investing in fintech startups in Southeast Asia. Among its portfolio companies are NextPay, an SME digital bank in the Philippines; Philippine-based Lista, one of the fastest-growing financial management apps; and Brick, a business payments, data aggregation, and API platform based in Indonesia, among others.

“Higalaʼs innovative approach to inclusive instant payments is directly aligned with our vision of using fintech to change lives,ˮ said Scott Krivokopich, Managing Partner at 1982 Ventures. “Winston Damarillo and Vice Catudio are an incredible team with a proven track record in building core payments infrastructure and we are proud to partner with Higala in launching a modern payments rail, which will make the Philippines' five billion monthly transactions faster, cheaper, and available to all sectors of the economy.ˮ

Since its introduction last year, Higala has been expanding financial access to different parts of the country by connecting more rural banks, thrift banks, commercial banks, and electronic money issuers to its network, as well as lowering the cost of real-time payments and reducing the on-ramp barrier.

“This funding milestone of Higala will greatly benefit its robust ecosystem, which now includes an instant payment system, a platform bank, and an extensive network of collaborators who are all committed to improving financial system resilience and accelerating the adoption of digital banking,ˮ said Higala CEO Winston Damarillo.

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Platform banking, new banks in the network

Slated for launch in the second quarter of this year, Higalaʼs platform banking will enable smaller banks and other financial institutions to offer digital payment services, which is a gateway to their access and participation to instant payment systems.

Recently, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) has partnered with Higala to provide the core technology to SynerFi, an open payments platform that provides digital payments access to smaller financial institutions in the Philippines.

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“Built on modern ISO 20022 native infrastructure, Higalaʼs network enables its partners to launch new services and reach new segments, while strengthening existing business lines with increased reliability and lower costs,ˮ stated Higala President and Chief Revenue Officer Vice Catudio, adding, ˮWeʼre thankful for the support of our growing list of network partners, which includes leading commercial banks, electronic money issuers and payments systems operators, who are driving new revenue streams based on system interoperability.ˮ

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Some of the banks that have been publicly announced as part of Higalaʼs network include the initial 40 participants to RCBCʼs SynerFi service and select rural banks that are part of the RCBC ATMGo network such as Rizal Microbank, Guagua Rural Bank, SNR Rural Bank, Lagawe Highlands Rural Bank, Rural Bank of Cadiz, Rural Bank of Cabatuan, Rural Bank of Ilog, Marayo Bank, Rural Bank of Roxas, Pangasinan Bank, Money Mall Rural Bank, Rural Bank of Kapalong, Rural Bank of Solano, Rural Bank of Lebak, First Philippine Partners Bank, Rural Bank of Matag-ob, and Rural Bank of Silay, among others.

“This is the realization of BSPʼs open finance roadmap initially focusing on open payments use cases making digital transactions more seamless and frictionless,ˮ said Lito Villanueva, RCBC Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer and FinTech Alliance PH Chairman. This initiative was first introduced at the Philippines Country Pavilion at the Singapore FinTech Festival in November last year.

Damarillo said: “We thank our investors and partners for their continued trust and support in Higalaʼs mission of advancing financial inclusion in the country and for helping shore up and accelerate our programs that promote participation and interoperability of underserved financial institutions in the Philippines.ˮ

Powered by Mojaloop technology, an open source instant payment system supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Higala continues to work with partners RCBC, Xendit, FinTech Alliance PH, and the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines.