All Change at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

There is a lot going on in the Philippines at the moment. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) combined its payments and cash functions last year as part of its push toward digitalisation and financial inclusion, and this month is embarking on a trial circulation of polymer. It has also created an inventive, and award winning, system for cash circulation and is in the midst of specifying and building a new printworks and cash centre with sustainability at its core.

All of this in an archipelagic country with a landmass covering 300,000 km, made up of more than 7,500 islands and a population of nearly 110 million, 50% of whom are unbanked. The BSP’s digitatisation strategy is aimed at rectifying this, creating a more financially-inclusive society and, at the same time, improving on its cash provision in terms of durability and accessibility.