The Central Bank of the Philippines has highlighted that the number of low-income Filipinos having a bank or financial account almost doubled in recent years — mostly due to the continuous digitalization of financial services.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) stated that there has been an increase in bank accounts among the country’s poorest citizens — or the class “E” socioeconomic segment – with these numbers nearly doubling to 27 percent in 2019 from 14 percent in 2017.
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The broader economy also witnessed the same trend with account ownership among Filipino adults rising to 29 percent in 2019 from 23 percent in 2017 — translating to an additional five million Filipinos being financially included in the span of two years.
Noting that the future is digital and it is here, BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno – in webinar on digital financial inclusion in the Philippines – urged for ensuring that the constituents and the public were not left behind in the process.
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“Let us prepare them for the new economy and equip them with access to transformative digital financial services,” Diokno said while emphasizing the importance of digitalization in helping prepare Filipinos for the “New Economy,” and also citing ways how public sector could prepare its constituents for the new economy and its transformative digital financial services.
The country’s top financial regulators have described the latest numbers as a good indicator of Filipinos’ readiness to adopt digital finance, including those in less affluent market segments that face connectivity challenges. (AW)
