MANILA – Philippine authorities’ bid to further digitalize financial transactions in the country has been supported by the Bank of China Manila (BOC), which recently partnered with Bancnet for its digital transformation move.
In a reply to questions from the Philippine News Agency, BOC said investments for digitalization, as part of its global system enhancements, amounts to billions worth of renminbi annually.
“As for BOC Manila, we have doubled the allocated budget this year to localize digital solutions for our clients in the Philippines,” it said, without elaborating.
The bank is optimistic for an over 10-percent growth in accounts for this and next year partly through its interconnection partnership with the largest interbank network in the country.
The BOC declined to give specifics on the current number of their account holders but added “we expect to grow our individual account user base by at least 20 percent behind the added accessibility we can achieve with BancNet.”
“With the addition of our interconnection with BancNet, our BOC dual currency RMB (Renminbi) and PHP (Philippine peso) debit card will not only be convenient for our clients traveling in China, but have a broader local network coverage and allow clients to more conveniently transact nationwide within the Philippines,” it said.
The bank said tie-up with Bancnet will allow their account holders to withdraw in more than 20,000 automated teller machines (ATMS) nationwide and pay for goods at more than 300,000 point of sales (POS) terminals that are connected to the largest interbank network in the country. (PNA)
