Only six new digital banks in the Philippines for now: BSP head

All nine additional applicants failed to submit documents.

The Philippines will only have six digital-only banks, for now; an intended seventh slot left blank after all nine applicants vying for the final spot failed to submit the necessary documents, according to the country’s top financial regulator.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor Benjamin Diokno said that they have decided to cap the number of licenses for virtual-only lenders at six.

“We approved six digital banks and it will remain six because the seventh slot, which was supposed to be competed [between] nine additional applicants, it turned out that the nine applicants failed to submit complete documentation for the request,” Diokno told attendees of a forum hosted by the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines.

The application period ended in August.

Amongst the six entities who were granted a license to operate as digital-only banks include Landbank’s OFBank; Tonik Bank and UNOBank from Singapore-based parent companies; and Union Bank’s UnionDigital, according to media reports.