Competition heating up in digital banking space !-- -- Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine Star) - February 4, 2020 - 12:00am MANILA, Philippines Competition in the digital banking space continues to heat up among major players as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) seeks to raise the level of electronics payments in the country. Vijay Manoharan, chief executive officer at CIMB Bank Philippines, said the country's first all-digital, mobile-first bank aims to grow its customer base to 3.

5 million this year after signing about two million Filipino clients since starting operations in December 2018. Manoharan said one in three accounts or 30 percent opened with the country's "fastest-growing digital bank" are for customers new to banking. "Our all-digital banking platform was designed to bring banking to more Filipinos, who otherwise may not have been able to access formal banking services.

We are happy to be part of the Philippine administration's push to substantially increase the number of Filipinos with bank accounts," Manoharan added. The BSP headed by Governor Benjamin Diokno wants to double the percentage of population with formal accounts to 70 percent by 2023 from the current 35 percent.

CIMB Bank Philippines is the Malaysia-based CIMB Group's first all-digital, mobile-first banking model within the ASEAN region. Manoharan said the company's persistence in becoming a platform bank in the country has been recognized by the International Finance Magazine and named CIMB the Fastest-Growing Digital Bank in the Philippines.

"Understanding that our market is not yet fully transitioned to digital banking, CIMB Bank Philippines has undertaken strategic partnerships with local payment gateways and e-wallets for our customers to adapt better to the digital platform," Manoharan said. CIMB Bank Philippines provides Filipinos with product offerings that fit their flexible lifestyles, such as best-in-market savings interest rates of four percent per annum, free P2-million insurance benefit, a Visa payWave debit card can be used in over 25,000 ATM machines for free, and 10-minute approval response for personal loans up to P1 million.

On the other hand, Dutch financial giant ING has extended high interest rate and fee rebate offers until March 31 this year to help customers in the Philippines reach their savings goals faster. ING Philippines head of retail Mohamed Keraine said the all-digital bank received very encouraging response since the launch of the two ongoing offers last year.

"The take-up rate of our offers is an indication that our customers understand the importance of savings and are extremely receptive to digital banking as soon as their pain points are addressed. By extending these offers, we want to continually remove a key barrier that previously hinders our customers from fully enjoying the benefits of having an ING savings account," Keraine said.

ING offers an interest rate of four percent per annum or 16 times more in interest rate compared to most retail banks and customers receive a fixed rebate of P100 for every successful electronic bank transfer via PESONet or InstaPay for up to two transactions per month. More players are expected to join the digital banking space after Singapore-based Tonik Digital Bank obtained a virtual banking license from the BSP, while Yuchengco-led Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

(RCBC) is establishing a wholly owned rural bank to engage in electronic payment and financial services as well as cloud-based core banking business.

© Pakistan Press International, source Asianet-Pakistan