Philippine bank accounts up 6.8% to 57.1 million in 2017

The number of unbanked local government units also dipped to 554 from 582.

The number of bank deposit accounts in the Philippines rose 6.8% to 57.1 million in 2017 from 53.5 million accounts in 2016, according to central bank data cited by ABS-CBN News.

The number of unbanked local government units also fell to 554 in 2017 from 582 offices in 2016.

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The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) cited the availability of “low-cost, no-frills deposit accounts” which can be opened “even without standard identification documents” as amongst such improvements to support account ownership and the acceptance of digital payments.

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The Philippines has amongst the lowest bank account ownership rates in emerging Asia, according to the World Bank data. Only 22.6% of the 68 million Filipino adults were in possession of formal financial accounts or funds deposited in banks, cooperatives, and/or microfinance institutions in 2017, a central bank survey show. This translates to around 15.8 million Filipinos out of the overall 103.3 million.