The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) closed applications for new Digital Bank licences in late September 2021, less than a year after launching the framework under Circular 1105 (December 2020). Six Digital Bank Licences (DBLs) were issued in total, and the Monetary Board imposed an indefinite moratorium on new DBL applications.
What Happened
Circular 1105 created the Philippines’ first standalone digital-bank category — distinct from rural, thrift, commercial, and universal banks — with capital, governance, and risk-management requirements specific to digital-only operating models.
Within nine months, BSP had issued six DBLs and announced the moratorium. The framework was not retired — it remains the operating regime for the six — but no new licences have been issued since.
New retail-market entrants since 2021 have had to use one of two alternative paths:
- Universal Bank Licence (UBL) via charter conversion. GoTyme Bank took this path, converting a Rural Bank of Cuyapo charter into a broader banking licence. GoTyme is therefore not part of the DBL six — it sits on a universal-bank-class charter and is positioned as a digital-first brand on top of that licence.
- Electronic Money Issuer (EMI) licence. The path GCash, the Maya consumer wallet (distinct from Maya Bank), and several smaller players use. EMIs are not deposit-taking banks and carry no PDIC insurance.
The Six Licensees
The closed pool of BSP digital banks comprises:
- Tonik Digital Bank — first to launch (March 2021). Singapore-headquartered parent, domestic-only PHP product surface, savings-led with tiered Stash deposits up to 6.0% APY. (Tonik review)
- Maya Bank — Voyager Innovations / PLDT-affiliated. Launched 2022 underneath the Maya consumer super-app. Backed by KKR, Tencent, and IFC. Maya Savings has historically reached 6% APY tiered. (Maya Bank review)
- UnionDigital Bank — UnionBank of the Philippines subsidiary. A digital-bank licensee operating alongside its universal-bank parent.
- Overseas Filipino Bank (OFBank) — LANDBANK subsidiary, originally chartered to serve overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and converted to a BSP digital-bank licence. The only state-affiliated entry in the cohort.
- UNO Digital Bank — operated by Singapore-headquartered DigibankASIA. UNO has experienced material operational disruption through 2024–2025; depositors should verify current account status against BSP and PDIC notices before funding any new accounts.
- The sixth licensee is the remaining entity within the Circular 1105 cohort. The retail-facing five above are the publicly active DBLs; the sixth’s operating status sits outside the household-name set.
A common misread in market commentary is to count GoTyme Bank as a DBL holder. GoTyme is not one of the six. GoTyme operates under a converted universal-bank-class charter rooted in the Rural Bank of Cuyapo acquisition, not under Circular 1105. (GoTyme review)
Why BSP Closed the Framework
Per BSP’s published rationale and Monetary Board statements at the time, three reasons drove the moratorium:
- Adequate competitive supply. Six licensees were judged sufficient to seed competition without diluting deposit safety across too many lightly-capitalised entrants.
- Supervisory capacity. Digital banks present novel AML, capital-adequacy, and operational-resilience risks. BSP signalled that supervising more than six would stretch its on-site examination and off-site monitoring capacity.
- Conventional routes remain open. The UBL conversion path (GoTyme), the rural-bank charter route, and the EMI licence stack were left untouched — the moratorium was not a freeze on digital banking, only on the standalone DBL category.
APAC Context
Capped digital-bank licence frameworks are unusual but not unique in APAC:
- Singapore (MAS). Issued four Digital Full Bank / Digital Wholesale Bank licences (Trust + GXS retail; ANEXT + Green Link wholesale); no second window.
- South Korea. The 2018 Internet-Only Bank Act produced exactly three licensees (Kakao, K Bank, Toss) and is closed in practice.
- Saudi Arabia (SAMA) and Bahrain (CBB). Issued digital-bank licences in 2022–2023 without explicit caps but with de facto small-N issuance.
- Indonesia (OJK) and Vietnam (SBV). Frameworks remain uncapped at this writing.
What It Means for Customers
For Philippines depositors, the closed framework has two practical consequences:
- The six licensees are protected from new DBL competition for the foreseeable future. They still compete with conventional universal banks (BDO, BPI, Metrobank) and with non-bank wallet incumbents (GCash, Maya wallet) — but no new pure-digital bank can enter without BSP reopening the window.
- Of the six, Tonik, Maya Bank, and UnionDigital are the most-active retail challengers as of 2026. PDIC’s PHP 500,000 deposit insurance applies identically across all six DBL holders and across UBL-licenced GoTyme.
→ See the full taxonomy of BSP-licenced digital banks in the Philippines for current product detail and PDIC coverage notes.
Source: BSP Circular 1105 / Manila Bulletin / Inquirer