Microbanks eyed to raise deposits

Mini bank branches which extensively uses automated services will be liberalized to allow more Filipinos to access financial services, Deputy Governor and incoming Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said. 

With BSP’s plan, more Filipinos will be able to contribute to the central bank’s bid to increase electronic payments in the country, Espenilla said.

Set to be liberalized are the operation of microbanking offices (MBOs) in the country.

Espenilla said the functions of MBOs will be more than micro lending.

“We are moving in the direction of a light branch,” he said.

MBOs are low-cost banking offices or scaled-down banking offices based in municipalities.

These provide specific range of banking services such as acceptance of deposits and release of proceeds of all types of microfinance loans.

As of June last year, the number of MBOs reached 617, which was 93 percent higher than the 320 offices in 2012.

Espenilla said the additional functions of the MBOs will depend on the unit’s location.

“We have to connect that to the creation of basic bank accounts that will actually supplant micro deposit rules. So, we will allow small savers to open an account,” he said.

Espenilla said with the additional functions, MBOs will be able to offer other services aside from microbanking products.

The BSP targets to implement the National Payment Retail System (NRPS) in the third quarter of 2017, which is aimed to make electronic payment efficient and secured.

NRPS is targeted to increase electronic payment usage in the country to around 20 percent by 2020 from around one percent to date.

It is also seen to help increase domestic growth, BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said earlier.

Last March, industry players signed the Charter of the Payment System Management Body (PSMB), which targets to ensure industry-level coordination to ensure efficient and resilient retail payments.

Signatories to the PSMB are Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) Chairman and CEO Justo Ortiz, who is a board member of the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP); Wealth Bank President Gregorio Anonas III, who is the current president of the Chamber of Thrift Banks (CTB); Malarayat Rural Bank President Antonio Pasia and president of the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines; and Pay Maya Philippines Inc. President and CEO Orlando Vea, representative of the non-bank electronic money issuer.