THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced on Monday that the number of Basic Deposit Accounts (BDAs) increased by 51 percent in the first quarter of the year.
BDAs rose from 4.6 million in the first quarter of 2020 to 7 million in the first three months of this year.
To date, 132 banks offer BDAs, with total deposits amounting to P 4.8 billion in the first quarter of 2021. This marks an increase from the 121 banks with total BDA deposits of P 4 billion in the same three month period last year.
“Account ownership enables Filipinos to conduct financial transactions in a safe, convenient and affordable manner. It is also a gateway to financial products and services like savings, loans, investments and insurance.” BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said.
The BSP introduced the BDA Framework in 2018 to urge more Filipinos to open bank accounts.
The BSP introduced the BDA Framework in 2018 to encourage more Filipinos to open bank accounts. It is a low-cost, no-frills account that features an initial deposit requirement capped at P100 and simplified identification requirements to open an account.
It has no maintaining balance and dormancy charges.
These BDAs are accounts designed by the BSP to encourage more people to open bank accounts and promote financial inclusion. Among its key features include simplified know your customer (KYC) processes to open, no maintaining balance, no dormancy charges and 0 percent reserve requirement for the bank.
Earlier, the BSP said the surge in the opening of BDAs was tethered to the rise of online transactions due to movement and travel restrictions. These BDAs are usually used as “transaction accounts.”
“A transaction account serves as the gateway to financial services. With it, a user can store funds and electronic payments then eventually avail of more products such as credit, insurance and investments,” Diokno earlier said.