HONG KONG – Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t just changing how financial institutions operate — it’s reshaping who they can serve.
At this year’s Hong Kong FinTech Week x StartmeupHK Festival, Alfred Lo, group chief technology officer of Maya, joined global fintech and banking leaders in discussing how AI is building a more inclusive, intelligent financial ecosystem.
“AI is becoming the new infrastructure of finance,” said Lo. “At Maya, we use AI to understand people better, make credit more inclusive, and strengthen trust in every transaction.”
Maya—powered by Maya Bank, the #1 Digital Bank in the Philippines, and Maya Philippines, the country’s leading payments processor—has embedded AI across its platforms, spanning payments, savings, credit, and fraud prevention. With over 8.2 million bank customers and ₱152 billion in cumulative loan disbursements as of end-June 2025, Maya’s
AI models analyze thousands of behavioral and transactional signals to deliver instant credit decisions and proactive fraud protection. The system now processes tens of thousands of loan applications daily and has significantly lowered default rates since the bank’s launch in 2022.
According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Financial Inclusion Survey 2021, only 4% of adults with loans borrowed from banks, while 57% relied on informal sources—underscoring the credit gap Maya aims to address through AI-powered lending.
AI helps us design credit for inclusion, not exclusion,” Lo added. “It allows us to extend opportunities responsibly — making financial health part of everyday life, not a privilege for a few.”
Hong Kong FinTech Week 2025, held in collaboration with InvestHK and StartmeupHK, gathered over 30,000 attendees and global speakers from organizations including HSBC, Ant Group, Mastercard, and Maya. This year’s theme, “Fintech Redefined,” explored how artificial intelligence, digital assets, and cross-border innovation are transforming the global financial landscape.
