BSP: Financial account ownership among adult Filipinos rose to 56% in 2021

Ownership of financial accounts among adult Filipinos doubled amid the COVID-19 pandemic but insurance uptake decreased, according to the results of the latest Financial Inclusion Survey of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The results indicate that account ownership of adult Filipinos nearly doubled to 56% in 2021 from 29% in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the highest two-year growth since data collection started in 2015.

This translates to 22 million Filipinos opening an account within the period, with the top gainers in the ABC socioeconomic class, those in Mindanao, more educated individuals, and those aged 30 to 39.

The number of unbanked Filipino adults decreased to 34.3 million or 44% of the total adult population from 51.2 million in 2019, reflecting a reduction of 16.9 million individuals.

The survey found that e-money accounts are the most-owned accounts in the country, with 36% of adult Filipinos owning an account in 2021 versus only 8% in 2019.

Bank account penetration was recorded at 23% in 2021 from 12% in 2019, while account ownership in cooperatives in cooperatives stood at 5%, and non-stock savings and loan associations (NSSLA) at 0.3%.

“The expansion was spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating the use of digital payments,” the central bank said in an accompanying statement.

Microfinance non-government institutions, however, posted a decline in account ownership at 9% from 12% in 2019 as awareness for them were the lowest at 45%.

During the period, Filipino adults were most aware of banks at 80%, followed by automated teller machines at 75%, and pawnshops at 69%.

Results of the same survey showed that uptake of formal credit increased to 25% in 2021 from 19% in 2019, and of investment to 36% from 25%.

Among the major financial services, insurance uptake posted the only decline as it fell to 17% from 23% in the previous two years.

The same survey found that around 46% of adult Filipinos had a budget, with more Filipinos experiencing concerns on the “every day” and “rainy day” aspects of financial health, despite being generally optimistic about their future.

Majority or six out of 10 Filipinos also reported a change in their financial behavior due to the pandemic, with 37% starting to save more for emergencies, and 17% increasing the usage of online banking and digital payments.

“Amid the latest figures, the BSP will continue to broaden its efforts to foster the wider adoption of digital technology, which has effectively enabled the onboarding of more Filipinos into the formal financial system,” BSP Governor Felipe Medalla said.

The financial survey had a sample size of 1,200 adults from both the National Capital Region (NCR) and areas outside the NCR, using multi-stage random sampling and a sampling error margin of ±3.5%

The survey was conducted from January 13 to February 9, 2022, with 2021 as the reference year for the questions. — BM, GMA News