Deposits in the Philippine banking system reached P14.9 trillion last year, a 9 percent growth from P13.6 trillion in 2019, as Filipinos started saving more amid the pandemic.
Data from the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC), the state-run deposit insurer, showed that the number of deposit accounts increased to 80.1 million from 73.7 million in the same period last year.
Fully insured deposit accounts also rose to 77.4 million from 71.4 million in 2019, which, according to PDIC, represented 96.7 percent of total deposit accounts.
PDIC said that despite the pandemic, savings deposits and demand and/or Negotiable Order of Withdrawal (NOW) deposits increased to P72.2 trillion and P4.1 trillion respectively.
“The pandemic underscored the important role banks play in enabling access to essential financial services. The deposit growth is also an indication of improved depositor confidence in the banking system,” PDIC President and CEO Roberto Tan said in a press release. Isabell Andrea Pine