PH financial products should be for spenders, not just earners: expert

Few products are catered for OFW families spending the money remitted, said BCG’s Lance Katigbak.

Financial service providers should rethink their products to account for spenders and not just earners.

Most products catered to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), for example, are targeted at remittances and sending money abroad. There are few products catered to the families receiving and spending the money, said Lance Katigbak, principal, Boston Consulting Group.

“Decision-making is a collective process; most decisions are made by multiple members.  How often are our products designed to account for something like that?” Katigbak told attendees of the Manila leg of the Asian Banking & Finance and Insurance Asia Summit, held on 10 March 2026.

Decision-making evolves with families in different family structures, Katigbak said in his keynote speech. For example, families with kids will see children increasingly make money decisions.

Those in extended families will see the elders and middle generation spread out money decisions amongst themselves while the children take the backseat.

Financial security for health-related scares emerged as the top priority of Filipino families, with 70% of the 1,515 surveyed by BCG in June 2025 saying so.

This comes as 64% of Filipino families say they could not cover a $168 (PHP 10,000) hospital bill, the same survey found.

Filipino families also want to have large savings funds (68) and to improve their daily nutrition and food quality (60%).

Be financially secure enough to absorb health scares (70%), have a large savings fund (68%), and improve daily nutrition and food quality (60%).

Katigbak also said that banks should use the same language that Filipinos use when talking about finances— with colloquial and local terms such as abono and paluwag.