FINTECH | Customer trust is reshaping digital finance security — Maya
Maya executives discussed how cybersecurity is becoming part of the customer experience, from security features users can control directly to systems designed to keep financial services operating during cyber incidents.
Maya executives said financial institutions need to strengthen customer controls, operational resilience and regulatory coordination as cyber threats evolve and more Filipinos rely on digital financial services.
Speaking at the recent BusinessWorld Cybersecurity Summit, Maya executives discussed how cybersecurity is becoming part of the customer experience, from security features users can control directly to systems designed to keep financial services operating during cyber incidents.
Maya allows customers to freeze or unfreeze cards through its app and manage how the cards are used. Other safeguards include biometric authentication, fraud monitoring and dynamic CVVs for Maya credit cards.
Kristoffer Rada, head of corporate affairs at Maya, said cybersecurity should be treated as part of the financial product rather than a back-office function.
“For us in Maya, cybersecurity is not some back-office product, it’s really part of the product,” Rada said. “As more people depend on digital financial services every day, maintaining trust becomes a responsibility shared by financial institutions, regulators, government and the broader ecosystem.”
Rada said cybersecurity regulations should balance safeguards and institutional accountability with the need to respond to rapidly changing technology and risks.
He said technology-neutral and risk-based standards could help regulations remain relevant, while closer coordination among government agencies and businesses would be needed because cyber risks cross banking, data privacy, telecommunications, consumer protection and law enforcement.
“Cyber threats do not stop at the boundaries of one company, one regulator or one country,” Rada said. “The stronger the coordination across the ecosystem, the better we can protect customers and maintain confidence in digital services.”
Maya also works with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Department of Information and Communications Technology’s Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, the Department of Justice and the Philippine National Police on cybersecurity and related concerns.
Cybersecurity as an enterprise responsibility
Jan Martin Encina, director of information security at Maya, said cybersecurity should be treated as an enterprise-wide responsibility rather than an issue limited to information technology departments.
“Cybersecurity is no longer just an IT issue; it is a business imperative, a national security priority and a fundamental component of public trust,” Encina said.
He said cyber resilience requires continuous monitoring, stronger identity and access management, resilient infrastructure, regular security testing and established incident-response capabilities.
Employee awareness and customer education are also important as cybercriminals increasingly combine technological attacks with social engineering and other tactics targeting human behavior, Encina said.
He also called for public-private partnerships, cross-border cooperation and threat-information sharing as cyberattacks become more sophisticated and interconnected.
“Ensuring that personal data is collected, stored and processed responsibly is not only a regulatory requirement, but also a moral obligation to the citizens and customers we serve,” Encina said.
Maya said its approach combines customer-facing security controls, internal cyber defenses, organizational resilience and regulatory coordination as digital financial services expand.
Full disclosure: All news articles published on the TechSabado website are written by human journalists, unless otherwise specified. Final text editing is also performed by human editors, with artificial intelligence (AI) used only to assist with additional grammar and style guide corrections..
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