The Philippines climbs in global financial inclusion rankings
The Philippines has climbed six places in the global ranking for digital and financial inclusion from following reforms being pursued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), according to a report by Brookings Institution.
Based on the 2016 Financial and Digital Inclusion Project report ‘Advancing Equitable Financial Ecosystems’ Brookings recorded a score of 76 percent for sixth place this year from a score of 68 percent or 15th place last year.
The Philippines achieved a perfect score for both in country commitment and regulatory environment as well as 94 percent in mobile capacity.
Brookings highlighted that the climb in rankings was driven partly by the government’s launch of the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI) by the BSP as well as the strong performance in mobile capacity due to the country’s high rate of smartphone penetration.
However, the report noted there remains a significant untapped opportunity for increased take up of digital and financial services in the Philippines. By 2020, NRPS targets to digitize 20 percent of retail transactions from the current level of only one percent of the 2.5 billion payment transactions made in the Philippines.
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SOURCE: [Philstar]