MANILA -- The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is monitoring rural banks that are not registered as digital banks, but are selling their services like a digital bank.

"Yes, we were aware of them, and we're looking at them closely and making sure that they do the right thing. If they're really becoming digital banks, you want them to get a license as digital banks," said BSP Governor Eli Remolona.

There are six digital banks currently operating, but the BSP said they have also received several applications for new licenses. Remolona told ANC's Business Outlook that the central bank may allow four more digital banks.

"Some are foreign. Well, there are applicants who have been very successful abroad," he asked when pressed for more information abut the digital bank license applicants. 

Remolona said that for digital banks, attracting deposits is easy, but growing loan portfolios has been more challenging.

BSP to accept 4 more digital banks next year

"The hard part is making good loans, so maybe two of them are successful in that regard," he noted.

"So for now, our metric is, can you make loans rather than just investing the deposit in some assets? But those loans are likely to be going to to the poor and then to also to MSMEs, small enterprises."

RCBC not keen on applying for digital bank license

"So far, the move, the move into loans has been slower than we thought, and we're hoping that other digital banks will enter, and the new banks, we hope will be have new business models, new strategies, so that they can start making loans."

Growing your money: Should you put your savings in digital banks?

--ANC, 28 January 2025