Overseas Filipino Bank scores Philippines' first digital-only license

The Land Bank of the Philippines' savings bank catering to overseas Filipinos has secured its license to operate as a branchless digital bank, the Department of Finance (DOF) announced over the weekend.

The DOF said the Overseas Filipino Bank (OFBank) obtained its digital banking license from the Monetary Board on March 25, making it the country's first branchless digital-only bank. It commenced banking operations in June 2020 using its then-existing license to operate as a thrift bank.

The OFBank was created under Executive Order 44 signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte in September 2017. It was launched in 2020 as a branchless and digital-centric bank, before shifting into a fully digital bank.

To recall, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) late last year approved the recognition of digital banks as a new category separate and distinct from existing bank classifications.

Digital banks are defined as those that offer financial products and services that are processed end-to-end through a digital platform and/or electronic channels with no physical branches.

At present, the OFBank offers four digital products and services which includes the opening of a mobile banking deposit account on supported iPhone and Android devices.

The bank ended 2020 with a total of 19,887 digital onboarding systems with artificial intelligence (DOBSAI) accounts, with an outstanding balance of P104.37 million.

The OFBank also offers fund transfers, bill payments, and applications for multi-purpose loans. Its inflows totaled 45,997 accounts in 2020 for transactions amounting to P467 million. Outflows worth P372.41 million came from 62,633 accounts.

Its global digital reach currently spans 112 clients, with clients able to access online services of some 763 merchants onboarded in its mobile application.

Partner merchants include 124 utility and services companies; 186 educational institutions; 277 government agencies and LGUs; 140 cooperatives/associations/foundations/corporations; 20 hospitals/healthcare/clinics; and 16 banks, credit card companies, and insurance companies. — DVM, GMA News