Insured deposits up 41% as coverage doubled
Total insured deposits in the Philippine banking system posted a double-digit growth in 2025, which state-run insurer Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) attributed to expanded protection for depositors.
PDIC data showed insured deposits had climbed to P5.2 trillion last year, an increase of P1.5 trillion, or 40.9 percent, from P3.7 trillion in 2024. The agency said most of the gain stemmed from the doubling of maximum deposit insurance coverage to P1 million from P500,000 on March 15, 2025. This policy shift accounted for P1.3 trillion, or 86.1 percent, of the rise.
Fully insured accounts increased to 169.2 million at end-2025, up 20.9 percent from 140 million a year earlier, representing 98.8 percent of all deposit accounts nationwide in the Philippines.
Total domestic deposits reached P21.7 trillion at year-end, rising 7.1 percent, or P1.4 trillion. Individual depositors drove the expansion, contributing P812.1 billion, or 56.4 percent of the increase, followed by private corporations with P334.8 billion, or 23.2 percent.
“This sharp increase not only reflects sustained public confidence in the banking system but also signals a significantly stronger financial safety net for depositors,” the PDIC said.
The PDIC has tapped the World Bank to study the possibility of implementing a “risk-based” pricing mechanism for fees that banks pay to insure deposits, in a bid to deter lenders from making risky investment moves.
Premium cost
At present, the PDIC collects a flat annual rate of one-fifth of 1 percent of the total deposit liability of a bank. Lenders pay the state insurer so that depositors can be reimbursed up to a certain amount if a bank is ordered closed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
But the PDIC also has five years from 2022—the year its revised charter took effect—to conduct a study on the need to establish a risk-based assessment system, which could result in higher premiums to be paid by banks that engage in riskier investment activities.
The result of the study will have to be reported to Congress.
BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. earlier said that beefing up the protection for bank deposits would unlikely create a moral hazard, as he stressed the need to make the local deposit insurance system ready for systemic risks.
