MANILA -- The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) clarified that the higher maximum deposit insurance coverage (MDIC) of P1 million will only be given to depositors of closed banks, and not to those who may have been victims of scams or hacking.

PDIC said that the higher MDIC will take effect, March 15, 2025. But this will only be released to depositors of banks that were ordered closed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The PDIC made the remark during a press conference organized by the Philippine Information Agency.

“Yung insurance po ng PDIC would kick in only if the bank is closed by the Bangko Sentral. It does not cover any other instance but only when a bank fails or when a bank is closed,” said PDIC General Counsel Maria Antonette Brillanes-Bolivar.

PDIC Senior Vice President Sandra Diaz added that in case a depositor loses money because of a scam or somebody hacked into the account, the next step would be to seek help from the bank itself.

“Kung na-hack dahil sa mga online transactions, hindi po kasama kasi yung the remedy of the depositor should be with the bank on how to resolve the hacking incident.”

PDIC officials also clarified that one person with several accounts in a bank will only get a maximum of P1 million, unless the other account is a joint account. They added that account covered by the MDIC are savings accounts and time deposits among others. Investment products are not covered as well as deposits in non-banks such as cooperatives and non-stock savings and loans association.

PDIC President Roberto Tan also assured the public that PDIC has enough funds to cover all depositors even with a higher MDIC. The Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) is around P237 billion as of December 2024. The ration of DIF to the estimated insured deposits (EID) is 5% this 2025, which Tan said remains adequate to meet potential insurance risks.

“Very adequate already for us to be able to cover whatever expected risks, banking closures to happen in the country. We have enough funds to cover all these closures that may happen,” Tan said.

Despite the higher MDIC, there is no increase in the assessment cost paid by banks.

PDIC added that they can now review the MDIC every year with possible adjustments every three years. The last increase was in 2009 when it was raised from P250,000 to P500,000 due to a law. But with the amended charter of PDIC, the Board can now approve MDIC changes every 3 years depending on economic conditions like inflation and ratio of MDIC to gross domestic product per capita of comparable economies.

“The current one at P500,000 is no longer relevant for them and mindful that the power of the peso has diminished and to foster a more vibrant system and encourage more depositors to put their money in banks,’ said Jose Villaret, Jr. PDIC Vice President.