Philippine banks and other financial institutions using AI against money laundering and fraud should be able to show that the technology does more than automate routine compliance work, the Anti-Money Laundering Council signaled in remarks reported by The Philippine Star on Sept. 29. AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura said institutions should demonstrate useful risk-detection or prevention results and explain the data, model-checking process and decisions behind them.The message is supervisory guidance, not a newly announced circular, deadline or penalty schedule.
Buenaventura’s remarks put explainability and auditability at the center of financial-crime technology. Boards, he said, must act on significant risks identified by AI, while people remain responsible for high-impact decisions. That matters as digital accounts and payment channels can move scam proceeds quickly. Maya Chief Risk and Compliance Officer Julie Reyes said the company has integrated fraud and anti-money-laundering work, a model-validation team, data scientists and an inventory of AI models.Those are Maya’s reported governance steps, not independently audited performance results.
The development follows a broader investment in AMLC technology. The Philippine News Agency reported in August that the council received PHP162.9 million in additional 2026 funding and allocated PHP125 million to AI, capacity-building and experts. The figure provides context for the council’s modernization push, but it does not prove that the money funded a specific vendor or system. The AMLC’s mandate covers money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing.Technology spending will still need measurable safeguards, documentation and human review.
For customers, the practical issue is not whether a bank uses AI, but whether its controls can be challenged and explained when an account or transaction is flagged. The BSP’s 2025 annual report describes governed AI pilots and an AI Sandbox, alongside fraud-monitoring and account kill-switch measures. Those initiatives do not mean every institution has the same capability.Philippine financial firms should treat model inventories, drift monitoring, board reporting and human escalation as operating disciplines—not marketing claims—as AI reaches more payment workflows.
