BDO boosts financial inclusion efforts

MANILA, Philippines — Sy-led BDO Unibank Inc. continues to boost its initiatives to help the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) achieve its financial inclusion efforts, as well as vision to convert the country into a cash-lite from a cash-heavy economy.

The country’s largest bank has made its BDO Pay mobile app available to non-bank clients to support the central bank’s Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap.

The BSP aims to raise the number of Filipino adults with bank accounts to 70 percent and convert 50 percent of total retail transactions to digital channels by 2023. So far, the number of banked Filipino adults increased to 53 percent from 29 percent, while the share of electronic payments to total retail transactions went up to 30.3 percent in 2021 from 20.1 percent in 2020.

BDO now allows clients to easily do banking transactions and manage their finances online through BDO Pay without the need to move in and out of different apps just to transfer money from one account to another, or make payments for online purchases.

Unlike other conventional e-wallets, BDO Pay is linked to a BDO client’s checking or savings account, debit card, and credit card making everyday payments flexible and easy.

The BDO pay account does not require any initial deposit, as well as any maintaining balance, making it ideal as a starter bank account, especially for those in rural and remote areas.

BDO Pay mobile app users can send money to both BDO and non-BDO accounts and enjoy other features such as request money, split bill, pay bill and make QR payments. Additional features will be rolled out to further promote e-wallet usage in the country.

The development of the BDO Pay mobile app is part of BDO’s strategic move to introduce customers to the bank’s wide-ranging products and services, and at the same time deliver a customer experience that is simple and reliable.

The country’s biggest lender has been enhancing its technology and infrastructure to be more agile and responsive to the clients’ needs.

BDO has the country’s largest distribution network, with over 1,500 consolidated operating branches and more than 4,400 ATMs nationwide. It also has 16 international offices, including full-service branches in Hong Kong and Singapore in Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East.