Home Philippines central bank debuts mobile app to boost ‘accessibility’
By
Mariam Okasha
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The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has launched a mobile-phone app as part of a push to ‘make BSP and other financial information and services more accessible to Filipinos and investors.’
The central bank’s app – ‘BSP Mobile’ – is designed to take advantage of device-specific capabilities, such as push notifications and location services, to maximise its benefits to users.
The app was described as “our way of staying connected with the public” by BSP deputy governor Bernadette Romulo-Puyat during launch event at the BSP’s head office in the Philippines’ capital city Manila.
She specifically highlighted that the app “allows users to check key rates and public announcements, locate coin-deposit machines or BSP offices, file complaints through our chatbot BOB,and stay updated with BSP news and advisories.” BOB is an abbreviation for ‘BSP Online Buddy’, which is designed to help people to file complaints against BSP-supervised financial institutions.
The BSP’s move is relatively novel as central banks are not particularly known for launching apps. But central banks to have done so include the US Federal Reserve System, which has apps including the St Louis Fed’s ‘FRED App’ (economic data) and the Atlanta Fed’s ‘EconomyNow’ app; and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), which has an app providing access to publications and data, as well as a ‘SARB Currency App’.
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‘Encouraging greater interaction’
The app also offers a ‘service locator’ to help people find BSP regional offices. Users are also able to ‘explore the design and security features’ of an ‘interactive’ 1000-Piso polymer (about £13/$18) banknote.
The central bank said that it ‘continues to enhance’ the app, which was developed in-house and is available on both Apple App Store and Google Play Store, and plans to offer more features and services.
“This new platform aims to enhance your experience and encourage greater interaction with the BSP,” said managing director Charina De Vera-Yap in a press release about the app. “Once downloaded, the app can be accessed anytime, even offline, and offers personalisation to match your specific needs and interests”.
“We look forward to all of us becoming champions, promoting the app, and helping improve it through your valuable feedback,” said director Reynaldo Florencio Zipagan at the event.
The BSP is involved with a growing number of initiatives to promote innovation, payments efficiency and financial inclusion in the country, which has a population of about 115 million.
These include the ‘Paleng-QR Ph’ programme, jointly developed with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), which aims to build a digital payments ecosystem by promoting cashless payments in public markets and local transportation, particularly tricycles. This has evolved (since November 2022) into ‘Paleng-QR Ph Plus’, which ‘aims to capture the broader target market of the programme to expand the digital payment acceptance in every city and municipality in the country’. Another fintech-related initiative is ‘Project Agila’, which is a proof-of-concept for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) at a wholesale (interbank payments) level.
