A survey commissioned by the Philippines’ central bank, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), revealed that the share of Filipino adults with “formal financial accounts” increased from 48% to 58% in just one year. The latest figure was also higher than the 51% recorded for the same age group by last year’s BSP Consumer Finance and Inclusion Survey. However, more Filipinos remained unbanked due to “lack of money, unemployment, and limited knowledge of how to open an account,” the survey said.
The March 2026 survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) with 1,500 participants showcases the growth in account ownership among those aged 18 and above. Among those surveyed, 43% reported having an e-money account, while 21% reported having a bank account. The rise in financial account ownership was observed throughout geographic areas, income groups, and education levels. The survey mentioned that about one in three respondents without an account said that a member of their household owns one.
Despite this progress, the SWS survey highlights a persistent challenge: many Filipinos remain unbanked due to factors like “lack of money, unemployment, and limited knowledge of how to open an account.” These hinder financial access for a significant portion of the population and raise critical questions about the effectiveness of ongoing initiatives for promoting financial inclusion.
BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. remarked, “The BSP will continue to broaden access to financial services, enabling more Filipinos to save, manage their expenses, and improve their overall financial health.” The BSP aims to use these survey results to refine its educational and communication strategies and to assess the effectiveness of key programs over time.
The term “formal financial account” in the survey was defined as any of the following: an e-money account (e.g., an e-wallet), a bank account, an account with a microfinance non-governmental organization, an account with a cooperative, or an account with a Non-Stock Savings and Loan Association.
Shifting to digitalization efforts, the BSP has been at the forefront of pushing for a digital financial ecosystem in the Philippines. Initiatives like Paleng-QR PH Plus promote digital payments via QR codes and facilitate on-site account-opening services, aiming to further enhance financial account ownership.
The Philippines continued push for digital transformation
In terms of current financial behavior, a recent Worldpay Global Payments report indicates that cash remains dominant in the Philippines, accounting for 42% of point-of-sale (POS) transaction values. The country’s leading mobile wallet platform, GCash, accounted for 41% of e-commerce transaction value and 29% of point-of-sale (POS) payments in 2025, noting that the digital wallet was used by three in four consumers and connects over 94 million users to 6 million merchants.
A2A is also becoming more popular due to systems like InstaPay and QR PH, which allow users and sellers to transact via QR codes or through digital wallets and digital banking applications. In 2025 alone, A2A transactions made up to 13% of e-commerce value and 7% of POS payments.
The BSP has also been exploring other digital transformation fronts in finance, one of which is nearing passage: the eBayad Act. This bill aims to make public digital transactions faster, more transparent, and more efficient for ordinary Filipinos. Under the eBayad Act, government agencies can send funds to a recipient’s account via automatic debit arrangements, electronic fund transfers, or other payment partners offering government assistance and payments.
Another digitalization program by the BSP is to facilitate wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) for interbank payments, securities transactions, and cross-border payments involving commercial banks and other financial institutions.
A February report by local news outlet GMA News Online revealed that the BSP is currently developing a strategic CBDC roadmap based on insights from Project Agila, the central bank’s first CBDC pilot.
“What we are thinking of doing next is to focus on wholesale CBDC settling government bonds, [because] the Bureau of the Treasury moved ahead with their pilot of the tokenized treasury bonds. It just lacked a settlement instrument, so we will be providing that with CBDC,” BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan said.
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