THE CHIEF executive of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) revealed developments on ATM Go and Higala, ongoing works of the bank in a bid to expand its footprint in the Philippines.
RCBC president and CEO Reggie Cariaso said their network consisted of 470 bank branches, 1,488 automated teller machines, and 6,549 ATM Go terminals strategically located nationwide as of June 30, 2025.
However, the bank is planning to reach more people through expanding ATM Go and a new project with Higala.
Asked about the projections for ATM Go, Cariaso said RCBC is eyeing to reach 8,000 terminals.
“We want to grow what it can do, and then we’ll see better traction but it is cheaper in the long run, because you don’t have to send armored car to load the machines, you don’t have to service it the same way, the cartridges, these are real people who service their community,” he stressed.
ATMGo is the country’s first kapitbahay mobile ATM and Southeast Asia’s first manual cash disbursement for international-issued cards that bring banking services closer to the neighborhood.
With ATMGo, essential banking needs: depositing money, paying bills, and sending money to loved ones are just around the corner at any local ATMGo merchant, Cariaso said.
Additionally, in a bid to expand the digital footprint of rural banks, Cariaso announced that they have partnered with homegrown instant payments infrastructure provider Higala Group Inc., accelerating the participation of smaller financial institutions in InstaPay.
RCBC and Higala jointly created Synerfi, an open payments platform to help rural banks as well as microfinance institutions expand their digital transactions.
“This is a way to connect Filipinos and communities where a lot of rural banks are, but not a lot of other banks are. We will connect our partners and the community to the Instapay network,” Cariaso said.
“We have eight pilot banks that we have already signed agreements with, tested in real time; all we are waiting for now is for the BSP approval.”
Higala will provide the technology to operationalize SynerFi, while RCBC is acting as the sponsor platform bank and manages the regulatory requirements.
Cariaso said that with the launch in September, it aims to empower communities that are underserved and have challenges in accessibility to real-time payments.
