MANILA -- A group of students from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) won a competition hosted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to encourage the youth to think of ways to boost financial inclusion in the Philippines.

The winning project, called AniKansya, aims to help farmers get financing for their various needs, from planting their crops to selling their produce.

The contest is part of the BSP's Youth Financial Inclusion (YFI) Initiative, which pushes the young to think of innovative, community-based solutions to financial inclusion challenges.

Placing second in the tilt was a group of students from the De La Salle University, which proposed an app that would boost financial inclusion for persons with disabilities by allowing the blind to give and receive voice commands.

In third place was an artificial intelligence-based software that can check if an SMS message received a person is a scam. The program was developed by students from the University of the Philippines and the Ateneo de Manila University.

Students from the University of San Carlos in Cebu also presented a proposal to bring financial inclusion to fisherman who lived far from banks.

Meanwhile, another group from PUP proposed a near-field communication (NFC) payment system that allows users to make electronic payments even without internet connectivity.

In her keynote speech at the event, BSP Deputy Governor for Regional Operations and Advocacy Sector Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said that the youth shape how technology is being used, making them powerfull allies in building a more accessible financial system.

"You see possibilities where others see limits—and that mindset drives progress and change," she said.

"If every young person had access to financial services and shared that knowledge with others, we would be significantly closer to a financially inclusive society," she added.