By Robina Asido

As President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the use of digitalization to improve revenue generation, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno said the government aims to digitize at least 50 percent of retail transactions by next year.

"The BSP remains committed to accelerate digitalization in the financial sector as the economy gradually reopens. We seek to further promote innovative contact less payment technology and onboard more Filipinos into the formal financial system," Diokno said in his speech during the World Bank's Philippine Economic Update forum on Thursday morning.

"By 2023, we aim to digitalize at least 50 percent of all retail transactions and at least 70 percent of Filipino adults should have transaction accounts," he said.

"In line with our digital transformation roadmap, the BSP released the digital banking framework in 2020. Thereafter it has issued licenses to six purely digital banks of which they had already started operations as of the second quarter 2022," he added.

Diokno said the active e-money accounts recorded from 2019 to 2020 rose by P16.8 million.

However, World Bank's Philippine Economic Update June report noted that while the rate of digital uptake accelerated during the pandemic, the Philippines has yet to fully leverage the digital technologies.

"COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption and use of digital technologies. However, digitalization is constrained by the country’s low high-speed broadband penetration, which lags neighboring middle income countries," it stated.

"Overall broadband penetration is lower in the Philippines than in neighboring economies, despite the entrant of a third full-service operator in 2021. The country’s fixed broadband, which is important for high-volume data transmission and typically required by large businesses and institutions, continues to lag that of regional comparators," it added.

The report added that the "adoption of digital technology has also been slower in areas outside the National Capital Region and key metropolitan cities."

"This note focuses on digital enablers, which include digital infrastructure, digital financial services, and national digital ID, digital skills, and conducive regulations for digital market access," it said.

It can be recalled in a TV interview early this month Information and Communications Technology Secretary - designate Ivan John Uy disclosed that the development of digital infrastructure is one of the marching orders given to him by Marcos.

"We were instructed to see how the digital connectivity will reach the far-flung areas... The Philippines is an archipelago, and it has many islands that do not have access to the world wide web, and we have to prioritize this, so that is one of the marching orders," he said. DMS