[ad_1]
MILLIONS of Filipinos have opened basic deposit accounts (BDAs) since the lockdown was implemented across the country, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno said, as Covid-19 forces people to get rid of the cash and more in online financial transactions. .
“During the pandemic, more than 4 million new accounts were opened through digital platforms, along with new online registrations and application downloads for digital financial services. [DFS]Diokno said in a recent speech.
These BDAs are accounts designed by BSP to encourage more people to open bank accounts and promote financial inclusion. Key features include simplified Know Your Customer (KYC) opening processes, no balance maintenance, no inactivity fees and a zero percent reserve requirement for the bank.
In 2018, the BSP allowed banks to offer these BDAs. By the end of that year, BDAs reached 428,000.
The increase in BDA openings was related to the increase in online transactions due to movement and travel restrictions. These BDAs are generally used as “transaction accounts”.
“A transaction account serves as a gateway to financial services. With it, a user can store funds and electronic payments and then finally make use of more products such as credit, insurance and investments, ”said Diokno.
The 2019 BSP Financial Inclusion Survey (FIS) showed that account ownership also increased to 29 percent from 23 percent in 2017. The six percentage point increase translates to 5 million new accounts in just two years.
In addition, among the poorest, account ownership reached 27 percent, closer to the national average and almost double the 14 percent previously reported.
E-money accounts drove the overall growth in account ownership, increasing from 1% to 8%. Account usage doubled to 39 percent from 18 percent.
Acceptance of other financial services also increased in the same two-year period from 2017 to 2019: formal credit increased to 19 percent from 14 percent; insurance at 23 percent from 18 percent; and investment at 25 percent from 23 percent.
