BSP urge rural banks to tap 11M households without accounts
Posted on June 3rd, 2010
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said that approximately 11 million Filipino households do not have bank accounts.
BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said, “Rough estimates indicate that at the most, only one-third of our households have bank accounts,” during a conference of the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines held recently at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel in Manila.
“In other words, at lest two out of every three households in the Philippines do not maintain bank accounts. This means an untapped market of about 11 million households,” he added.
Tetangco continued, “We maintain that there are millions more households that can open and maintain bank accounts… given enough information, attention, incentive and protection,” as he pointed out the problem presented both an opportunity and a challenge for the rural banks, as these potential bank customers who remain untapped can help boost their profitability.
He also said that the the rural banks plays a very crucial role to ensure Filipino’s confidence in the banking system and rural banks. “Indeed, bank programs to grow the business… should be balanced with efforts to educate and protect bank customers. As responsible bankers, this win-win strategy is the way to go… and grow,” said Tetangco.
The BSP governor said that while the number of rural banks in country have been reduced by four percent from 658 in 2008 to 631 in 2009, their total number of branches rose significantly by 45 percent from 1,362 to 1,974. At present, rural banks still hold the lion’s share of the banking industry’s network in the countryside.
According to Joseph Omar Anday, RBAP outgoing president, there were about 2,000 rural banks spread across the countryside at end of 2009. These banks held a total of six million deposit accounts and “millions more in load account.”
And rural banks have also adapted with the new technologies in banking, as many of them now also have automated teller machines (ATM). Between 2008 and 2009, rural banks with ATM have increased from 113 to 119 while rural banks which provide electronic banking services moved up from 47 to 52.
