THE number of basic deposit accounts (BDAs) more than doubled in the third quarter of 2023, according to the latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
According to the BSP, there was a 175-percent increase in accounts designed to promote financial inclusion to 23.6 million in the third quarter of last year from 8.6 million in the third quarter of 2022.
The data showed that with this increase, the total BDA deposits soared 624 percent to P35.6 billion in July to September last year from P4.9 billion in the same period in 2022.
“Ang BDA ay inilunsad upang matugunan ang pangangailangan ng ating mga kababayan na magkaroon ng abot-kaya at easy-to-open bank accounts. Layunin din ng BSP na magkaroon ng financial access ang mga MSMEs [micro-sized, small-scale and medium-sized enterprises] at mga miyembro ng sektor ng agrikultura,” BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. earlier said. [We launched BDAs to respond to the needs of Filipinos to have affordable and easy-to-open bank accounts. It is also our aim to give financial access to MSMEs and those in the agriculture sector.]
However, the number of banks that offer BDAs declined to 156 banks from the 158 banks recorded in the second quarter of 2023. The bulk or 37 of the banks that offered BDAs are rural banks in the third quarter of 2023. This was followed by 18 thrift banks; 13 cooperative banks; three universal banks; two commercial banks; and, one digital bank.
The BSP noted that the list of banks offering BDAs is updated quarterly based on bank reports submitted to the central banks. The banks may also have a different name or branding for their BDA product.
BDAs were introduced by the BSP in 2018 and allows Filipinos to create accounts with low opening deposit requirements pegged at P100 or less.
Opening BDAs involve simple identification requirements and no maintaining balance requirement as well as the absence of dormancy charges. Despite this, BDAs are savings account that earn interest in selected banks and is insured by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp (PDIC).
In some cases, BDAs earn up to 4 percent per annum of interest in certain banks. The maximum account balance is set at P50,000.
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