Filipino financial account ownership slips

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. (File photo / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — Half of Filipino adults held a formal financial account in 2025, a share that slipped from its 2021 level as fewer borrowers kept accounts with microfinance institutions and cooperatives for loans.

This, as borrowers maintained accounts with banks and online lenders that promise faster processing and approvals.

Results of the 2025 Consumer Finance and Inclusion Survey showed that 50 percent of adult Filipinos had opened a formal financial account—including bank, e-wallet and other transaction accounts.

Data at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) show that this went down from 56 percent in 2021.

The survey covered 10,836 eligible adults and had an 81 percent response rate.

READ: Financial account ownership rises among women, young people — BSP survey

Still far from the target

The BSP had aimed to lift account ownership to 70 percent by 2023, a target buoyed by increased demand for cashless payments during the COVID-19 crisis.

But, years after the pandemic, the survey showed account ownership was increasingly shaped by borrowers’ shifting preferences for where they get credit.

READ: BSP: Philippines may miss 2028 digital payments goal

The decline was driven by a retreat in loan-linked accounts with microfinance institutions and cooperatives

The former saw a decline to 5 percent from 9 percent. The latter recorded a slide to 2 percent from 5 percent.

This mirrored a drop in borrowing from those lenders. Loan incidence at microfinance firms fell to 6 percent from 10 percent. Borrowing from cooperatives declined to 1 percent from 4 percent.

Meanwhile, e-money accounts—the main driver of financial inclusion—held steady at 36 percent of the population.

23% bank account ownership

Bank account ownership was unchanged at 23 percent.

The composition of credit improved as formal lending sources surpassed informal borrowing. This, the BSP said, signals progress toward safer and more regulated credit markets. Microfinance institutions remain the primary source of loans.

READ: BSP offers loan relief, urges waiver of digital fund transfer charges

While account ownership was uneven individually, household-level access is strong.

Data showed 85 percent of households own at least one account, indicating that many families rely on shared financial access rather than individual ownership. INQ