Migrated 10+ core systems to Google Cloud with near-zero branch downtime
Accelerated 2-year cloud transition into an 8-month rollout
Recorded 1.6M+ Gemini in Google Workspace interactions across 13 apps in 60 days
Slashed internal presentation prep time from weeks to hours using Google Workspace
Built a centralized data warehouse in BigQuery to streamline IT reporting and extended PayPro on Google Cloud to deliver payroll and disbursement for MSMEs nationwide
M Lhuillier moved core systems to Google Cloud and rolled out Gemini in Workspace, laying the foundation to become a fintech firm.
M Lhuillier moved core systems to Google Cloud and rolled out Gemini in Workspace, laying the foundation to become a fintech firm.
Fast-tracking cloud modernization to guarantee 24/7 financial lifelines
Michel J. Lhuillier Financial Services, Inc. (M Lhuillier) serves over 25 million Filipinos across 3,000+ nationwide branches, providing vital financial services including Kwarta Padala money transfers, Quick Cash Loans, and bills payment. Operating extensively in remote barangays across the Visayas and Mindanao regions, M Lhuillier acts as an essential financial lifeline for unbanked and underbanked communities.
M Lhuillier is led by two Chief Technology Officers, Clark James Aranas and Paulo Quinto, an unconventional setup that shapes how the company approaches resilience.
The critical nature of these services became starkly apparent when Typhoon Odette (2021) struck the region, forcing 60% to 70% of physical branch operations offline for nearly four days due to local grid and infrastructure damage. For company leadership, this operational crisis served as the ultimate tipping point. M Lhuillier immediately scrapped its two-year cloud roadmap and fast-tracked a complete infrastructure overhaul into an ambitious eight-month sprint.
The company needed to move away from legacy on-premise hardware and previous cloud environments that suffered from high maintenance costs, scalability bottlenecks during peak holiday remittance periods, and slow software delivery cycles. Handling sensitive customer transactions under Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) supervision, M Lhuillier also needed enterprise-grade security natively integrated with its identity management systems.
To achieve uncompromised reliability and long-term agility, M Lhuillier selected Google Cloud, supported by its strategic co-build partner Symph. Google Cloud provided the ideal combination of elastic scale, superior total cost value, integrated data analytics, and strong local ecosystem support.
Typhoon Odette showed us that our communities need us most exactly when disaster strikes, and that is precisely when we cannot afford to go offline. That reality is what drove us to compress a two-year cloud roadmap into under eight months.
Clark James Aranas
Chief Technology Officer, M Lhuillier
Executing a near-zero branch downtime core migration with serverless agility and Symph
M Lhuillier and Symph executed a seamless, phased migration encompassing over 10 core financial systems. The engineering teams prioritized the Kwarta Padala remittance and Quick Cash Loan (pawning) systems before transitioning partner API gateways, bank integration channels, and the MCash e-wallet platform.
To eliminate technical risk across 3,000+ branches, the team utilized Google-provided migration tools like RackWare alongside Symph’s project management framework. This strategy achieved a 100% migration success rate with near-zero downtime, allowing branch tellers and head-office staff to transition without experiencing operational friction or system pauses.
The modernized architecture leverages managed serverless compute services to handle fluctuating transaction volumes dynamically. Mission-critical teller workflows and operations portals run on App Engine, while asynchronous transaction queues, background processing, and partner integration pipelines run on Cloud Run and Cloud Run functions. Container images and deployments are securely managed using Artifact Registry. Operational data and business insights flow through BigQuery, orchestrated by Cloud Scheduler to generate automated performance reporting.
Google migration tools enabled a seamless transition with near-zero branch downtime. Our tellers didn’t even notice the cutover—they simply woke up to a faster, fully resilient platform.
Charles Lim
IT Operations Head, M Lhuillier
Role-based access controls and monitoring safeguards set the security baseline across all environments, in line with BSP standards. The same Google Cloud infrastructure now powers PayPro, M Lhuillier's payroll processing and disbursement service for MSMEs nationwide.
M Lhuillier's leadership structure mirrors its infrastructure. Its two CTOs split ownership across the technology function much like the platform's own load-balanced, multi-zone architecture, a deliberate setup built on the same resilience philosophy driving the migration itself.
Cultivating enterprise AI fluency and building a resilient, data-driven financial ecosystem
Parallel to its infrastructure modernization, M Lhuillier deployed Google Workspace across its enterprise and launched the Gemini Champions program. Supported by Symph-led ‘AI in Workspace’ workshops, the initiative recorded over 1.6 million Gemini in Google Workspace interactions across 1,400+ active unique users in its first 60 days, spanning 13 apps and 82 distinct action types.
This organizational shift yielded immediate productivity gains across non-technical and technical units alike. Teams streamlined email management, automated accounting report analysis, and accelerated presentation design, reducing preparation timelines from weeks to hours.
Gemini turned AI from a buzzword into a daily tool across our teams. It empowers tellers and office staff alike, letting us deliver faster, more empathetic service to millions of Filipinos.
Clark James Aranas
Chief Technology Officer, M Lhuillier
In the IT division, staff leverage AI to standardize agile workflows and code documentation, while HR leadership integrated AI tools to build candidate exams and structure recruitment interviews.
M Lhuillier maintains strict access controls and monitoring safeguards to protect sensitive financial data across its AI tools, consistent with BSP security standards. At the same time, the company completed 90 to 95% of its IT data warehouse on BigQuery, empowering teams to run complex operational reports independently, without relying on IT support tickets.
M Lhuillier has established a future-proof foundation while uniting resilient cloud infrastructure with workforce-wide AI fluency. Near-zero downtime across the branch network is only the start: the migration lays the foundation for M Lhuillier's evolution from a remittance and pawning institution into a financial technology company bringing digital solutions to communities and businesses nationwide. Supported by ongoing leadership upskilling through Google Skills, the institution is uniquely positioned to continuously elevate financial inclusion and deliver seamless, compassionate service to 25 million+ Filipinos across every branch.
M Lhuillier has always been the name people trust for remittance and pawning. Now we're building the technology foundation to become something bigger: a financial technology company bringing real digital access to the communities and businesses we serve.
Clark James Aranas
Chief Technology Officer, M Lhuillier
Michel J. Lhuillier Financial Services, Inc. (M Lhuillier) is a premier BSP-supervised non-bank financial institution headquartered in the Philippines. Operating over 3,000 nationwide branches, it provides remittances, loans, pawnshop services, and digital payments to 25 million+ customers.
Industry: Financial Services
Location: Philippines
Products: App Engine, Cloud Run, BigQuery, Cloud Scheduler, Cloud Run functions, Artifact Registry, Google Workspace, Gemini in Google Workspace, Google Skills
About Google Cloud partner — Symph
Symph has built custom software for enterprises globally for 16 years. Symph is Google's AI Transformation Partner in Southeast Asia, and a Google Cloud and Google Workspace partner.
