The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) believes in the power of regulatory support and innovation in the financial space will win the day for financial inclusion in the Philippines when both the unserved and underserved have access to the various financial services.

The inclusion program aims to cast a wider net such that a greater number of entities and individuals can readily access the financial system as and when required.

It was for this reason the BSP said regulations and innovation were crafted to strengthen both account ownership and digital payments under the National Retail Payment System (NRPS).

The NRPS intends to address the needs of the unbanked population for a low-cost, no-frills deposit account, which they can open even without standard identification documents.

In addition, the BSP’s branch-lite regulation aims to further the initiative by providing banks the flexibility to determine the appropriate size and model of a banking office for a specific area or locality based on market needs.

Earlier, the BSP cited milestones and trends in financial inclusion in its State of Financial Inclusion in the Philippines 2017 report.

“With the continuous growth of banking offices nationwide, the number of unbanked local government units declined to 554 (33.9 percent of the total) in 2017 from 582 (35.6 percent) in 2016, representing a 1.7 percentage points decrease in unbanked areas,” the report said.

Likewise, the report noted the rise in the number of deposit accounts in the country as this grew to 57.1 million in 2017, a 6.8 percent increase from 53.5 million in 2016.

Moreover, the BSP’s year-end report on its financial inclusion initiatives underscored the opportunities presented by the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI) such as the promotion of financial literacy in schools and allowing financial access to the micro, small and medium enterprises.

Meanwhile, the recent BSP-IMF (International Monetary Fund) regional dialogue on financial stability for ASEAN central banks made possible the establishment of a financial stability (FS) network.

“The FS network will serve as a venue to raise awareness on financial stability issues and a means for facilitating an active exchange of knowledge, insights, information and experiences among members in their respective pursuit of financial stability,” the BSP said.

The central bank vowed to continue its pursuit to achieve greater financial inclusion down the line.

“The BSP will also continue its collaboration and partnerships on financial education and consumer protection,” it said.