Suggests transforming OFW bank into “virtual bank” with zero physical branches
(Eagle News) – Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said he has coordinated with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas so it could “check” all its regulations that “stymie the growth of electronic commerce in the country.”
In a statement on Monday, Dominguez revealed he made the coordination with BSP Deputy Governor Maria Almasara Cyd Amado, as he gave a push for the use of digital technology applications to serve Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in particular.
He said the Overseas Filipino Bank (OFB), which was launched last January, was the “ideal vehicle” for the country to “leapfrog” to the digital economy.
According to the finance chief, OFB could be transformed into a “virtual bank” where bank tellers and managers would be replaced by information technology (IT) experts who would manage large amounts of data and operate the bank.
“You just operate (the bank) through your smart phones. You can open an account for 10 million OFWs without them having to go to a branch and opening one up,” Dominguez said.
According to the finance chief, the Alipay system pioneered by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group was an electronic payment system that has over 500 million users and over 200 million account holders with combined deposits of $250 billion but zero physical branches.
“We have already a good size of potential OFWs abroad and that’s already 10 million, Land Bank has five million account holders, so why can’t we deal with them through smartphones?” Dominguez added.