Financial inclusion is rising In 2017, 23 percent of Filipino adults had bank accounts. Fast forward to 2021, it jumped to 53 percent. The ideal is that people, regardless of net worth, can benefit from affordable financial services.
Apps have certainly played a significant role in making financial transactions more convenient and secure, especially amid the pandemic. What instigated the flourishing of these apps is open banking. Because open banking allows third-party applications to access and control clients’ accounts, it can transform the consumer experience of financial services in ways that have never been possible before.
An app for every need
Open banking is anchored on the Application Program Interface (API), which allows customers of a bank, for example, to securely use their online credentials to fulfill online payments and e-wallet load top-ups with various merchants and billers. That’s what allows you to easily fund your accounts to pay for food deliveries, shop to your heart’s delight at online marketplaces, and pay for your electricity and mobile phone bills all from the comfort of your home.
The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has also harnessed digitalization and open banking in a way that makes financial transactions easy, intuitive, and empowering.
The results can be seen in the numbers. In 2020, at the height of the most onerous lockdowns in the country, digital transactions zipping through BPI’s networks surged. There were 2.6 million mobile app downloads, 32.9 million transfer-to-anyone transactions worth P174 billion, 18.4 million inter-bank fund transfers worth almost P137 billion, and 59.1 million transactions via open banking worth P131 billion.
Foresight
“Because of the early investments of BPI in digitalization, arising from a strategic hunch that digital transactions would someday arrive at an inflection point, the bank was able to handle the torrent of transactions,” says BPI Chief Digital Officer Mr. Noel Santiago.
The partnerships with third-party applications and merchants, combined with the capacity and reliability of BPI’s digital channels, enabled clients to change their behaviors much more easily. Four notable services were rated highly: BPI to Cash—enables BPI clients to send money to their loved ones anytime and anywhere in the Philippines; BPI QuickPay—for quick and hassle-free payments; BPI eADA—digital enrollment for auto-debit arrangements; and Pay on Delivery—allows clients to pay for goods digitally upon delivery.
Opening up digital transactions
For BPI, its open banking ecosystem, launched only in October 2019, gained momentum well into 2021 because of the continued acceleration of digital financial transactions brought on by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
BPI Online users intuitively built a digital lifestyle around BPI’s “digital ecosystem.” A formidable roster of open banking partners empowered clients to enjoy convenient and secure seamless transactions for e-wallets, popular e-shopping and delivery apps, prepaid phone services, prepaid utilities, prepaid transportation, government payments, insurance payments, donations, and many more.
Building momentum
BPI ended 2021 with 83 partners offering 786 brands. In the last 12 months, the total amount processed was a whopping P281 billion, or 115% higher compared to the previous year. Incremental income reached more than half a billion pesos at P554.8 million in the same period. The volume of open banking transactions reached 103.3 million, or a boost of 75% higher compared to the previous year.
“BPI—as a result of its timely and strategic focus on digitalization, combined with the speed with which Filipinos have embraced a digital lifestyle—envisions the work of getting financial services and innovations to the masses becoming easier,” shares Mr. Santiago.
“Soon, seven digital banking platforms for all client types, covering various services for retail, SME, and corporate clients, will find their way into our smartphones and computers. Thanks to open banking, BPI continues to welcome new partners at an unremitting pace,” he adds.
For BPI, there is no turning back. The future of financial inclusion is digital.