As Philippine banks and financial institutions face stricter regulatory requirements to combat online scams, payments technology provider SwiftPay has launched SwiftGuard, a real-time fraud detection and decisioning platform designed to help institutions identify and stop suspicious transactions without replacing their existing core banking systems.
The launch comes as the country strengthens its anti-fraud framework through the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA) and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Circular No. 1213, which require covered banks and BSP-supervised financial institutions (BSFIs) to implement fraud management systems capable of detecting and responding to suspicious transactions in real time.
The need for stronger fraud controls has become increasingly urgent. According to data cited by SwiftPay, more than 60 percent of Filipino adults are targeted by financial scams each year. E-wallets account for 74 percent of reported destinations for fraudulent proceeds, while bank transfers account for another 14 percent, highlighting the growing risks facing the country’s expanding digital finance ecosystem.
Responding to a new regulatory landscape
IMAGE CREDIT: BSP
Unlike previous compliance approaches that relied heavily on post-transaction reviews, BSP Circular No. 1213 places greater emphasis on preventing fraud while transactions are still in progress.
Covered institutions are expected to assess transactions using indicators such as transaction velocity, device and account changes, geolocation, blacklist screening, and behavioral anomalies. The regulations also require fraud management systems to be continuously updated as criminals adopt new tactics.
SwiftPay said these evolving requirements were a key consideration in developing SwiftGuard.
Rather than requiring banks to replace their existing core banking platforms, SwiftGuard sits on top of current infrastructure as an intelligent decisioning layer. It evaluates transactions in real time and recommends whether they should be approved, held, blocked, or subjected to additional verification, while the institution’s own core banking system retains final authority over execution.
“This regulatory shift makes clear that compliance cannot be treated as a one-time technology project,” said Paweł Jędruch, Head of Technology at SwiftPay.
“Financial institutions need controls that keep learning, adapting, and producing evidence as fraud tactics evolve. At SwiftPay, our role is to help institutions build that capability without forcing them to replace the core systems they already rely on.”
Strengthening fraud controls without rebuilding core systems
IMAGE CREDIT: SwiftPay
At its core, SwiftGuard combines more than 40 configurable fraud detection rules across six categories. It also supports anti-money laundering (AML) integration, tamper-evident audit trails, multi-year log retention, and case export capabilities designed to assist regulatory examinations and fraud investigations.
The platform is delivered as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution using standard REST/JSON APIs secured with OAuth 2.0, allowing banks to integrate the technology into their existing environments without proprietary protocols or software development kit (SDK) dependencies.
For financial institutions, that means stronger fraud controls can be deployed without the cost and complexity of replacing core banking infrastructure.
The timing is significant.
AFASA raises accountability for financial institutions by requiring adequate fraud risk management systems and providing for the restitution of funds when institutions fail to exercise the required level of diligence.
BSP Circular No. 1213 also extends fraud management responsibilities to relevant third-party service providers and clearing-switch operators, reinforcing the need for stronger controls across the broader payments ecosystem.
Trust will define the next phase of digital finance
IMAGE CREDIT: SwiftPay
SwiftPay believes stronger fraud prevention will play a critical role in sustaining confidence in digital financial services as adoption continues to grow.
“The next phase of digital finance growth will be determined by trust,” said Damian Gil, Chief Revenue Officer at SwiftPay.
“Financial institutions that can make sound decisions as money moves, and then document those decisions to continuously improve their controls, will be better positioned to protect customers and scale digital services responsibly.”
SwiftGuard is already deployed at several financial institutions, including VBank, Netbank, and AgriBank.
The platform is also natively integrated with Nextbank’s Core Banking System and Mobile Banking platform, allowing institutions using either solution to deploy SwiftGuard with minimal implementation effort.
As Philippine banks continue investing in digital channels while facing increasingly sophisticated fraud threats, technologies capable of making real-time risk decisions are expected to become an increasingly important part of the industry’s security infrastructure.
