BSP set to approve ‘branch lite’ operations

New memorandum circulars aimed at enabling “branch lite” operations will be issued before the year ends in bid to provide basic financial services to underserved and unbanked municipalities, a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) official said.

“[T]he branch lite concept … is one of BSP’s liberalization initiatives to be more responsive to the more changing preferences of financial consumers and market conditions and this also intends to promote financial inclusion and reach greater scale,” central bank Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier said at the sidelines of a Chamber of Thrift Banks meeting on Tuesday.