A new bill that aims to mandate government financial institutions to open a bank account for every unbanked Filipino has been filed by Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian.
Gatchalian said that besides the Philippine National ID addressing an individual’s lack of documentary requirements for opening a bank account, the government should facilitate and strengthen the financial inclusion landscape in the country – through opening and maintaining of bank accounts for delivery of the government’s public and social services.
“These bank accounts will be linked with the Philippine Identification System,” he said, adding that the accounts will be provided by the LANDBANK of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines “free from any opening and maintenance fees or charges” beginning on Jan. 1, 2023.
While an account will be automatically provided for all those registered with the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys), the unregistered can open an account with either bank using other government-issued IDs, and the account will be automatically linked with the PhilSys without need for the client’s consent.
Minors’ accounts will be linked with their parents or legal guardians’ accounts, Senate Bill No. 2251 stated.
A central bank’s 2019 Financial Inclusion Survey in July 2020 showed that barely 29% adults had access to bank accounts, while 51.2 million adults remained unbanked and these figures had increased from 23% in 2017.
