MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BSP Promoting E-money Usage, Financial Access in the Philippines via “Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap 2020-2023”

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, recently released its Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap 2020-2023, which outlines steps for reaching: (1) half of retail sales volume being paid via digital channels; and (2) 70 percent of citizens having access to financial services.

Adonis Liang, the Bank of the Philippine Islands’ division head of business banking in the Visayas, said, “the advancement of mobile technology gives the unbanked sector and those that really don’t go to the usual brick-and-mortar banks the chance to apply for an account through these fintech (financial technology)” services such as GCash and Paymaya.

Established under the New Central Bank Act of 1993, BSP is headquartered in Manila and has three regional offices and 18 branch offices. In addition to traditional central banking activities, BSP participates in advocacy programs concerning microfinance, financial education and consumer protection. As of December 2019, BSP reported total assets of PHP 5 trillion (USD 105.5 billion) and net income of PHP 46.2 billion (USD 959.7 million).

By Nathan Kiplagat, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

SunStar Cebu news release
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1875124/Cebu/Business/Most-banks-now-pushing-microfinance-e-wallets

BSP homepage
https://www.bsp.gov.ph

BSP financial statement 2019
https://www.bsp.gov.ph/Pages/AboutTheBank/AuditedFinancialStatements/2019FS/Income%20Statement.pdf

BSP Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap 2020-2023
https://www.bsp.gov.ph/SitePages/MediaAndResearch/MediaDisp.aspx?ItemId=5573

GCash homepage
https://www.gcash.com/

PayMaya homepage
https://www.paymaya.com/quick-guide/create-account

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