← Embedded Finance Index 2026

EastWest Bank

“Can East West Bank leverage its unique US-China-Philippines cross-border position to become the embedded finance backbone for diaspora communities and SMEs across the Asia-Pacific corridor?”

HQPasadena, California, USA (US entity: East West Bancorp / East West Bank); Manila, Philippines (East West Banking Corporation)
IndustryBank / National
The story

East West Bank operates as two distinct banking franchises sharing a brand: East West Bancorp (EWBC), a $78B-asset US commercial bank headquartered in Pasadena focused on US-China cross-border banking; and East West Banking Corporation (EWB), a Philippines-based universal bank. The US entity has expanded into BaaS-adjacent fintech sponsorship (BayaniPay Wallet) and recently deepened payments infrastructure via a Worldpay partnership. The Philippines entity has pursued digital banking through its Komo app, embedding insurance, lending, and life products directly into digital channels and third-party super-apps like GCash.

Last 12 months
2024-11
2025-10
2025-10
Product timeline
2021
EastWest Bank (US) sponsored BayaniPay Wallet, a challenger bank for Filipino immigrants launched in California, holding customer deposits.· banking
2022
East West Bank (US) published thought leadership on Banking-as-a-Service, signaling intent to explore BaaS and fintech partnership models.· banking
2022
Komo (digital banking app under EastWest Rural Bank, Philippines) launched Troo Flex, the Philippines' first customizable on-demand life insurance in-app.· banking
2024
EastWest Bank Philippines announced partnership with GCash to embed lending products directly into the GCash super-app.· lending
2025
East West Bank (US) signed a long-term partnership with Worldpay to provide business and commercial clients with payments acceptance solutions including POS, omnichannel, and e-commerce.· card
2025
EastWest Bank Philippines announced plans to launch a dedicated MSME lending program in Q1 2026.· lending
Regulated entities
3
regulatory licences held by EastWest Bank
Licence types, jurisdictions and registered entities are in the Embedded Finance Index report.
The stack
6 layers disclosed in EastWest Bank’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
Worldpay
Money movement
in the full report
Banking / BaaS
in the full report
Lending
in the full report
Insurance
in the full report
Open banking
in the full report
Accounting gap: significant
10 more providers across 5 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.