Micro-deposits nearly triple to P6.3 B

MANILA, Philippines - Micro-deposits nearly tripled over a four-year period amid the heightened efforts of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to push financial inclusion in the country.

In a report, the BSP said micro-deposits jumped 181 percent to P6.3 billion in end-June this year from P2.2 billion in 2012 while the number of accounts surged 217 percent to 2.9 million from 925,389.

This translated to an average year-on-year growth rate of 34 percent, faster than the six percent growth of other deposit products. A micro-deposit account has a maintaining balance not more than P100 with average daily balance not exceeding P40,000 and does not have dormancy charges.

In terms of usage of basic savings accounts, the central bank said there has been a remarkable growth in micro-deposits specifically designed for the low-income sector.

There are 617 micro-banking offices (MBOs) as of end-June, almost doubled the 320 MBOs in 2012.

The number of local government units with MBOs more than doubled to 393 in June 2016 from 192  in June 2012.

To date, 75 municipalities are being served by MBOs alone. MBOs increased at an average year-over-year rate of 18 percent, faster than the growth of other types of banking offices at four percent and ATMs at 13 percent.

The BSP reported financial access has expanded in terms of number and reach of banks and other financial institutions between 2011 and 2015. There is also improvement in usage of financial services as seen in the growth of deposits, loans, microfinance and electronic money.

For access, worth highlighting is the growth in MBOs that are low-cost banking infrastructure that can be established in municipalities where it is not feasible to set up a regular branch.

MBOs have been more contributory to financial inclusion by extending the reach of financial services to underserved and unserved areas as regular branches of banks remained concentrated in the National Capital Region.

Majority of MBOs are located in areas outside Metro Manila, particularly in the regions of CALABARZON, Bicol, Western Visayas and MIMAROPA. Most municipalities that were previously unbanked are now enjoying access to banking services because of MBOs.

Data from the World Bank indicate that the share of Filipino adults with a formal account increased  4.7 percentage points to 31.3 percent in 2014 from 26.6 percent in 2011. This is modest compared to the improvement among lower middle-income countries at 14 percentage points.

The BSP remains committed in nurturing an environment to financial inclusion. At the national level, BSP is leading the implementation of the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI) together with 14 other government agencies.