Only one-fourth of all Filipinos own bank accounts that facilitate their participation in the financial system, while the rest cite the lack of funds or lack of need as their primary reasons for not having one, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said yesterday.
In a statement, the central bank said the results of its latest Financial Inclusion Survey showed that about 15.8 million Filipino adults had funds deposited in banks and other financial institutions as of the end of 2017.
Representing 22.6 percent of the country’s total population, this marks a slight improvement over the 22 percent of Filipinos who had bank accounts in the survey’s first edition in 2015.
“Ownership of an account that can be used to save money, receive salary, send or receive remittance, and pay bills is a basic indicator of financial inclusion,” the BSP said.
BUSINESS
BUSINESS
BUSINESS
Banks posted a higher share (11.5 percent) in account penetration than nonbanks such as microfinance nongovernment organizations (8.1 percent), cooperatives (2.9 percent), and nonstock savings and loan associations (0.3 percent).
Only 1.3 percent of adults have electronic money (e-money) accounts.
