Bank deposits climb 10% to P22.2 trillion

MANILA, Philippines —  Deposits in the Philippine banking system grew by 10.2 percent to P22.22 trillion as of end-March, as funds parked in big banks and digital banks continued to rise, according to data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Latest BSP data showed total deposit liabilities increased from P20.16 trillion in the same period last year. Deposit accounts also rose by 18.4 percent to 178.57 million from 150.82 million a year ago.

The BSP-counted number of depositors surged by 84.7 percent to 248.41 million from 134.53 million in end-March 2025. The BSP counts a depositor only once even if the account holder maintains several types of accounts, such as current, savings or time deposits.

Universal and commercial banks continued to hold the bulk of deposits, accounting for 93.1 percent of the banking system’s total. Deposits in big banks grew by 9.7 percent to P20.69 trillion from P18.86 trillion a year earlier, while deposit accounts rose by 7.8 percent to 101.61 million.

Thrift banks also posted strong growth, with deposits jumping by 24.9 percent to P1.05 trillion from P839.68 billion. Their deposit accounts surged by 39.3 percent to 10.66 million.

Deposits in digital banks soared by 49.5 percent to P152.97 billion from P102.31 billion a year ago, equivalent to only 0.7 percent of total banking deposits. However, deposit accounts in digital banks zoomed by 59.2 percent to 37.97 million from 23.85 million, showing continued growth in customer adoption.

Rural and cooperative banks were the only group that posted a decline in deposit value, falling by 7.8 percent to P330.17 billion from P358 billion. However, their deposit accounts still increased by 12.9 percent to 28.32 million.

By deposit type, savings deposits remained the biggest component of the banking system’s funding base. Savings deposits rose by 5.6 percent to P9.32 trillion from P8.82 trillion, accounting for 41.9 percent of total deposits.

Regular savings deposits reached P7.79 trillion, up by 4.3 percent from P7.47 trillion a year earlier. Other savings deposits climbed by 13.4 percent to P1.44 trillion, while kiddie and teen savings deposits inched up by one percent to P56.65 billion.

Basic deposits, which are designed to encourage more Filipinos to open bank accounts, grew by 11.5 percent to P32.53 billion from P29.19 billion. The number of basic deposit accounts increased by 6.6 percent to 27.95 million.

The BSP data also showed that deposits remained highly concentrated in large accounts. Accounts with more than P5 million held P15.84 trillion, or 71.3 percent of total banking deposits, despite numbering only 520,068 accounts.