Philippines: Two more digital banks start operations after central bank approval

The Philippines now has two more digital banks, total reached six. This comes after the country’s central bank issued licenses to GoTyme and UnionDigital Bank, which have started operations. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced on August 24 that all six digital banks are now operational and will play an important role in the bank’s goal of digitizing payments. “The operation of the digital bank supports the BSP’s digital payments transformation roadmap, which aims to digitize half of the country’s total retail payments by 2023 and bring at least 70% of Filipino adults into formal financial system,” the central bank said in a statement. Tonik Digital Bank and Maya Bank were the first to be authorized in the first quarter of this year. The latter had been operating as PayMaya in its digital payments era, but changed its name in May when it transformed into a digital bank. During the second quarter, BSP granted licenses to UNOBank, Overseas Filipino Bank Inc. and most recently GoTyme and UnionBank Digital. The former is a joint venture between Singapore-based digital bank Tyme and Philippine conglomerate Gokongwei Group. The latter is the digital subsidiary of UnionBank, a top 10 Philippine bank with $14 billion in assets. In the Philippines, digital banks have no physical branches and process financial products through electronic channels. Entities must meet a capital threshold of 1 billion Philippine pesos ($17.8 million) to qualify. Currently, Filipinos do not expect any new digital banks, as the BSP said in 2021, it will be limited to six. It defended its position by pointing out that its neighbours Singapore and Malaysia only have four and five digital banks. Digital banks will play an important role in the blockchain sector in Southeast Asian countries. Maya already offers digital asset purchases to its users, announcing the feature in April. UnionDigital Bank also said that it will allow its users to take advantage of blockchain, although it has not yet delved into digital assets. WATCH: BSV Global Blockchain Conference Presentation, New Technology, New Future for Nation New to Bitcoin? Check out CoinGeek’s bit Coins for Beginners