After the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) granted Certificates of Authority to UnionDigital Bank, Inc. (UDB) and GoTyme Bank Corporation, a total of six digital banks are now permitted to operate in the Philippines (GTYME).
Four digital banks—Tonik Digital Bank, Inc. (TONDB), Maya Bank, Inc. (MAYA), Overseas Filipino Bank, Inc. (OFBDB), and UNObank, Inc.—were previously approved by the BSP (UBI).
Only the Overseas Filipino Bank, Tonik, and Maya are all-operational among the six digital banks in the Philippines; meanwhile, UNObank, UnionDigital Bank, and GoTyme have started restricted operations aimed at a small number of users.
Within the second half of this year, the three are predicted to make their public debut.
The BSP reports that between January and June 2022, 1.4 million transactions totalling 8.45 billion Philippine pesos (about $150 million) in value were conducted through digital banks.
BSP Governor Felipie Medalla previously explained that the market’s infancy, as well as its capacity to govern the industry, led to the BSP being choosy in the licenses it granted to digital banks.
According to a spokeswoman, digital banks “help” the BSP’s goal of digitizing 50% of the nation’s retail payment volume and integrating at least 70% of the adult population into the formal financial system by 2023.
