BSP Boosting Financial Inclusion Across All Sectors

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is ramping up efforts to expand and enhance financial inclusion across all sectors in the country.

The World Bank noted that 51.4% of Filipino adults had access to bank, mobile money, or digitally enabled accounts during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.

This initiative follows a World Bank report showing that only 50.2% of approximately 82 million Filipinos aged 15 and above had financial accounts in 2024.

According to the recently released 2025 Global Findex Database—which surveyed 141 economies in 2024—the share of Filipino adults with financial accounts was significantly lower than the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) regional average of 83.3% and the 70.4% average among lower-middle-income countries (LMICs).

The World Bank noted that 51.4% of Filipino adults had access to bank, mobile money, or digitally enabled accounts during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. That figure nearly doubled from 26.6% in 2011.

However, the Philippines lagged behind the EAP region’s increase from 79.7% to 83.3% and the LMICs’ rise from 62.1% to 70.4%.

The EAP region includes the Philippines, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. The survey also revealed that in 2024, only 33.5% of Filipinos had bank accounts—below the EAP average of 82.2% and the LMIC average of 65%.

Digitally enabled financial accounts used with a card or phone were held by just 32.7% of Filipinos, also trailing the EAP’s 74.6% and LMICs’ 36.8%.

“The BSP is committed to deepening financial inclusion.

While the 2024 World Bank Global Findex report shows a slight decline in account ownership, this may reflect the easing of pandemic-related incentives to use transaction accounts,” the central bank said in a statement.

“These results highlight the need to go beyond account ownership and focus on improving financial health, especially for vulnerable sectors,” it added.

The BSP reaffirmed its commitment to working with partners to onboard more Filipinos into the formal financial system and to promote financial well-being through inclusive, secure, and accessible financial services.

It also reiterated its target of onboarding at least 70% of adult Filipinos into the formal financial system, noting that the share of Filipinos with bank accounts had reached 65% by 2022.

“Persistent challenges remain, such as connectivity gaps, low financial literacy, and trust issues. Still, there are gains observed from 2021 to 2024,” the BSP said.