PH’s pioneer physical-digital banking service hailed

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno commended the development of the country’s first mobile human-assisted remote banking service that seeks to provide banking services to far-flung communities.

“This pioneering innovation complements the Philippine government’s thrust for digital transformation and aligns it with our Sustainable Development Goals, with financial inclusion being a key enabler in achieving equality and empowerment, supporting innovation, and promoting economic growth through savings mobilization for investment and consumption,” said Secretary Diokno during the RCBC Moneybela Barangayan Banking Launch on Monday, October 3, 2022.

The RCBC Moneybela Barangayan Banking is a physical-digital blended banking service that will make basic deposit account creation, bills payment, e-load, cash in or cashout, microinsurance, and telemedicine purchase accessible to previously unreached communities through sustainable e-tricycles.

Secretary Diokno said that the innovation brings the government closer to its goal of financial inclusion by bringing quality financial services to many unbanked and underserved sectors.

As former Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Secretary Diokno sought to digitalize at least half of all retail payments and onboard 70 percent of Filipino adults to the formal financial system by 2023.

Secretary Diokno also underscored the need for human-centric and empathy-driven design in the development of banking products and services.

“Through digitalization, financial inclusion initiatives can empower individuals, enterprises, and communities to unlock their fullest potential, simply by tapping into a wider range of welfare-enhancing financial services,” said Secretary Diokno.

The Marcos administration seeks to strengthen the pillars of support for the digital economy. Government policies and programs will put greater emphasis on pursuing digitalization to reinvent industries, enhance the delivery of public services, and create employment and investment opportunities.

The government will also rely heavily on digital tools to augment financial inclusion initiatives and quicken the rollout of the Philippine Identification System to achieve e-governance and widen public access to financial products and services.

The government is also optimizing the power of fintech to pursue a more inclusive and broad-based capital market.

“All these will allow us to bounce back stronger from the pandemic and ensure the long-term recovery of our economy,” said Secretary Diokno.