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In focus
- 3 more digital banks, 0 breathing room: what’s next for PH’s existing players
- Teaching robots to feel: Sharpa’s high-stakes bet on hand dexterity
- Vietnam’s newest data centers will be backed by the Middle East
Hello reader,
Last week, I spoke to a couple from the Philippines who, after years of keeping their combined savings in a traditional bank account, gradually moved their money into three digital banks. At one point, they said, one of those banks was offering a double-digit savings rate, far higher than the roughly 3% typically offered by traditional banks in the country.
Since entering the market in 2021, the six digital banking license holders in the Philippines built a combined deposit base of more than 100 billion pesos (US$1.7 billion) as of 2025. Only two of them are profitable despite this growth, as most players struggle to scale their lending business. The couple I spoke with, for instance, use digital banks only to save, but not to borrow.
For today’s first top story, I wrote about the challenges these digital banks face in growing their lending businesses in the country. With the expected entry of three new digital banks in the market, the existing players’ road to profitability is about to get rockier.
Meanwhile, my colleague Scott has another interesting story. He details Singapore-based Sharpa’s quest to nail robotic hand dexterity. There’s limited data to train robots to have human-like hand movements. But the startup is trying a “glove-based capture” tech that could help robots determine the amount of force humans exert when carrying out certain tasks.
We’re also rolling out a new feature called First Dibs. It highlights our latest reporting, from scoops to new funding rounds. In its first edition, you’ll get an early look at a premium story on Singdata, which will be published later today, and why this under-the-radar firm could become the Databricks of Asia.
Elyssa Lopez, journalist
Top Stories
1️⃣ PH digital banks chase profits as regulator ups the stakes
Photo credit: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
An open finance framework that would require all banks – whether digital or traditional – to share key customer data with one another could be a game-changer for digital banking players.
But the Philippine central bank’s efforts to get banks to participate have been slow. As a result, digital banks are looking for alternative ways to refine their credit underwriting capabilities.
2️⃣ Robots still struggle with touch. Sharpa wants to fix that
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