THE latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) show a 19% increase in the number of Basic Deposit Accounts (BDAs) from 6.6 million in Q4 2020 to 7.9 million in Q4 2021.
As of end-December 2021, the total value of BDA deposits reached Php 5.1 billion, a 7.6% rise from the Php 4.7 billion posted a year earlier.
The BDA was created to meet the needs of the unbanked and low-income sector and foster greater financial inclusion. 138 banks are now offering BDAs.
Introduced in 2018, the BDA is a deposit product that has a low account opening balance requirement of Php 100 or less, no maintaining balance, no dormancy charges, and simple identification requirements. Banks can customize their BDA products by utilizing technological innovations to on-board and service clients.
The BSP continues to promote BDAs through enabling policy issuances. In November 2021, the BSP issued regulatory relief measures to encourage more banks to offer a BDA. In January 2022, the BSP issued Frequently Asked Questions to provide additional guidance and clarifications on the regulatory framework for BDAs.
Since ownership of an account is an important first step to perform digital payments, BDAs support BSP’s mutually reinforcing goals of financial inclusion and payments digitalization.
