ACI Worldwide and Security Bank Philippines Set New Benchmark for Enterprise-wide Payments Modernization

OMAHA, Neb. & SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 14, 2026--

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), an original innovator in global payments technology, and Security Bank Corporation (Security Bank), a leading universal bank in the Philippines, today announced that they won the "Best Payment Technology Initiative in Asia Pacific" at The Asian Banker (TAB) Global Financial Technology Innovation Awards 2026. This award recognizes Security Bank and ACI Worldwide’s transformation of payment infrastructure by consolidating fragmented systems into a unified, scalable payments platform that converges low and high-value ISO20022 real-time payment processing and automation across all channels.

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What sets this initiative apart is its enterprise-wide scope and forward-looking architecture. Security Bank and ACI transformed the entire payments orchestration layer across all lines of the bank’s businesses, creating a single platform that supports continuous innovation, regulatory compliance and ecosystem expansion. It integrates transaction processing, monitoring, investigation, and reporting into a single operational environment, reducing manual intervention and improving straight-through processing. At a time when digital commerce is accelerating, and expectations for speed, reliability, and security are rising, the initiative establishes a new standard for how banks can transform payments into a strategic growth engine.

“While many payment transformation efforts focus on infrastructure modernization, this initiative delivers clear business value. By simplifying operations, accelerating time to market, and enabling new revenue models, it moves beyond modernization to creating a competitive advantage for the bank,” said Leslie Choo, Senior Vice President, Managing Director – APAC, ACI Worldwide. “In partnership with Security Bank, we transformed the payments backbone, replacing fragmented layers with a unified, intelligent orchestration layer. This goes beyond speed, giving Security Bank the control, agility, and resilience to lead in a digital economy and raise the bar for the region.”

The initiative reflects the bank’s proactive approach to addressing long-standing industry-wide challenges of fragmented systems, limited scalability and inconsistent customer experiences. The new platform unifies payment processing across multiple payment rails, enabling standardized workflows, greater automation, and full operational visibility across the payment lifecycle. Built on a modern, microservices-based architecture and deployed in a cloud-native environment, the platform is ISO 20022-native, ensuring interoperability and readiness for evolving regulatory requirements while maintaining compatibility with legacy systems.

“This transformation goes to the heart of how we serve our customers and grow as a bank,” said John Cary Ong, Executive Vice President and Wholesale Banking Segment Head from Security Bank Corporation. “Payments are no longer a back-end utility. They are a front-line experience and a competitive differentiator. Together with ACI, we have built a modern payment platform that allows us to move at the speed of our customers, scale with confidence, and innovate without being held back by legacy constraints.”

Delivered through a highly collaborative model between Security Bank and ACI, the initiative combined deep domain expertise, agile execution, and strong executive sponsorship. A phased rollout approach enabled rapid time-to-value, with InstaPay going live within 10 months and scaling to more than 10 million transactions per month shortly after. The impact of the initiative has been both immediate and sustained. Transaction volumes across domestic payment rails increased by 35% year-on-year, while the platform tripled transaction processing capacity and achieved 99.99% uptime, demonstrating exceptional scalability and operational resilience.

About ACI Worldwide

ACI Worldwide, an original innovator in global payments technology, delivers transformative software solutions that power intelligent payments orchestration in real time so banks, billers, and merchants can drive growth, while continuously modernizing their payment infrastructures, simply and securely. With 50 years of trusted payments expertise, we combine our global footprint with a local presence to offer enhanced payment experiences to stay ahead of constantly changing payment challenges and opportunities.

© Copyright ACI Worldwide, Inc. 2026

ACI, ACI Worldwide, ACI Payments, Inc., ACI Pay, Speedpay and all ACI product/solution names are trademarks or registered trademarks of ACI Worldwide, Inc., or one of its subsidiaries, in the United States, other countries or both. Other parties’ trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners.

About Security Bank Corporation

Established in 1951, Security Bank is one of the Philippines' leading universal banks, and is publicly listed with the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE:SECB) in 1995. The Bank's major businesses cover retail, corporate, commercial, and business banking, offering a wide range of services including financing, leasing, foreign exchange, stock brokerage, investment banking, and asset management.

Security Bank differentiates itself from competition as a strong, independent, domestic bank with a global reach. The Bank provides superior customer experience in line with its brand promise of BetterBanking, stemming from an in-depth understanding of customers' needs and providing solutions in a professional, problem-free, personalized and prompt manner. With the Bank's strategic partnership with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), the largest financial group in Japan, it is also able to provide customers access to an extensive global network.

The Bank has been recognized by international and local organizations for its continuous product innovation, market leadership, and best-in-class management practices. More information is available on www.securitybank.com

From left to right: Nicole Ranna Feliciano, Product Management and Payments Channel Head, Security Bank Corporation; Ong Chee Cheng, VP, Head of ASEAN, ACI Worldwide; Matthew Grech, VP, Head of Services, Asia Pacific, ACI Worldwide

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Two Democrats vying to be Iowa's next U.S. senator opened their final debate Thursday with a pitch to voters on how they would flip the Republican-held seat in a contest that has seen heavy outside spending and high-profile endorsements.

State lawmakers Zach Wahls and Josh Turek are competing in a June 2 primary. It is one of the few remaining competitive Democratic Senate primaries this year, as the party seeks the best approach to reclaim the U.S. Senate this fall.

Iowa’s Republican Sen. Joni Ernst opted out of a reelection bid, leaving the seat open for the first time since she replaced retiring Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin in 2014. Republican Senate leaders have backed Ashley Hinson, a congresswoman representing northeast Iowa, and the campaign arm has committed $29 million to help her keep their thin majority.

Democrats see an opportunity to flip seats in the once-competitive state, despite President Donald Trump’s double-digit win in the last presidential election and an all-Republican federal delegation. The political committee aligned with Senate Democrats said Thursday they were investing $13 million in the state. But Iowa Democrats first need to settle on which federal candidate will be at the top of the ticket. Early voting began on Wednesday.

While Wahls and Turek have raised and spent similar amounts, a Democratic political organization, VoteVets, has spent about $7 million to support Turek in the final stretch of the campaign. That's more than the two candidates have spent combined.

Turek, who is not a veteran, was born with spina bifida after his father’s exposure to chemicals while serving in the Vietnam War. The group has said Turek is uniquely positioned to advocate for veterans’ services, especially health care and military families.

Wahls has criticized the influx of cash as insiders in Washington trying to exert outsized influence, and it's likely to come up again Thursday, as it did at an Iowa Press debate last week.

Another group purchased more than $40,000 in airtime to support Wahls this week, according to filings. Iowa Action was funded by a lawyer with a California address who has also donated directly to Wahls' campaign.

Wahls has been vocal about who should — or should not — lead Senate Democrats, saying he would not vote for Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York to be the caucus leader.

“The leadership of Chuck Schumer has failed the Democratic Party, it has failed the state and it has failed this country,” Wahls said during last week's debate. “Dark money has an agenda, and that agenda is to protect the broken status quo and the failed leadership of Sen. Schumer.”

Schumer has tried to keep the focus on Republicans.

Turek responded to Wahls' criticism, saying he's not a “D.C. insider.”

“I don't know these folks,” he said. Turek explained his criteria for leader candidates, but stopped short of saying he wouldn’t support Schumer.

“I will go up and ask whoever is deciding to run for leadership ... ‘What are you going to do for Iowa? What are you going to do for Iowans? What are you going to do for the middle class?’” Turek said.

The two have also drawn distinct endorsements from well-known Democrats.

In the last week, Turek unveiled a rare endorsement from Harkin, who represented Iowa in the Senate for three decades, as well as former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Turek also has collected endorsements from sitting U.S. senators, including Illinois' Tammy Duckworth, New Hampshire's Maggie Hassan and Nevada's Catherine Cortez Masto.

Wahls is endorsed by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who joined him in Iowa for campaign events over the weekend. The progressive senator told voters the Senate needs Democrats who are willing to “get in there and stand up and fight.”

In the first debate last week, Turek and Wahls were aligned on many issues. Both said that they would not support the Republican president’s tariffs or the war in Iran and that they do support raising the minimum wage and restoring health care access with a public insurance option. They criticized corruption in Washington and proposed higher taxes on corporations and wealthy Americans.

But they also started to draw some contrasts. More of that is likely Thursday in the debate hosted by local broadcast stations in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Sioux City and the Quad Cities.

Wahls referenced a law Turek supported in the Iowa legislature that makes it a state crime to be in the U.S. illegally. Turek defended his vote, saying it was Biden-era legislation, and stressed the importance of a secure U.S.-Mexico border. Turek said he also supports an easier path to citizenship and reforms to immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.

Turek highlighted his working-class background and contrasted his work for a nonprofit with Wahls’ work for a political organization focused on electing young Democrats.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2026 election at https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/.

This combination of file photos shows Iowa State Sen. and candidate for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate Zach Wahls speaking in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Sept, 11, 2025, left, and Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek speaking in Des Moines, Iowa, April 8, 2026, right. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette via AP, File)