THE government is urging the financial technology (fintech) industry to prioritize safeguarding consumers and collaborate with state agencies in fighting scams, fraud and cybercrime.
“By working with government and regulatory agencies in combating scams, fraud and cybercrime, we give our consumers the confidence to engage and transact in the digital space,” he added.
Diokno affirmed that the move toward digitalization is a key focus of the current administration.
“The Department of Finance and its attached agencies have made solid progress on this front, undertaking a comprehensive array of programs aimed at enabling digital finance to flourish,” Diokno said.
He said the Bureau of Internal Revenue has improved its Digital Transformation Program with the aim of reinforcing and modernizing the bureau. This includes refining policies, governance and standards to elevate the overall experience for taxpayers.
“In fact, 69 percent of total returns were filed electronically, and we expect all large taxpayers to be able to file returns and pay taxes electronically by next year through electronic invoicing,” Diokno said.
Meanwhile, assisted by the World Bank, the Bureau of Customs is currently implementing the Philippine Customs Modernization Program, which aims to make operations more efficient by improving systems, processes, and other tasks.
Moreover, the Philippine Identification System, or Philsys, will revolutionize service delivery and accessibility through the incorporation of advanced technology, allowing for transactions without the need for physical presence, paper documents or cash transactions.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, on the other hand, is targeting converting at least half of the total retail payment volume into digital format as part of the Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap.
The Securities and Exchange Commission, for its part, recently introduced a consolidated system — called the Electronic Simplified Processing of Application for Registration of Companies, or eSparc — to simplify and streamline the entire company registration process.
For its part, the Bureau of the Treasury has enhanced the convenience of purchasing government securities through its Online Ordering platform along with the Overseas Filipino Bank’s mobile application.
With these initiatives, “the government has included digitalization as a vital component to achieving true economic and social transformation in the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028,” Diokno said.
The current administration has also introduced the eGov PH application, which serves as a single platform for handling all interactions between citizens and the government.
The Marcos Jr. administration is also actively advocating for the approval of the E-Governance bill in Congress, which would facilitate the integration of information and communications technologies within government institutions.