FICO S U R V E Y: Filipinos more at ease to open accounts via phones

PHILIPPINE consumers are more comfortable in opening bank accounts on their smartphones than those in the United States and the United Kingdom, results of a survey by GLOBAL ANALYTICS SOFTWARE fiRM FICO SHOWED.

In a statement on Friday, FICO said its Consumer Digital Banking Survey revealed that 26 percent of Filipinos preferred to open a bank account on their smartphones, compared to 18 percent in the US and 25 percent in the UK.

Digital account opening is rapidly becoming the norm in the Philippines, it added, with 76 percent of consumers saying they would open some kind of financial account online.

Of those who would open such an account, 40 percent would consider doing so for everyday transactions, 38 percent for a credit card and 33 percent for a personal loan.

“Filipino consumers are digital natives,” said Subhashish Bose, FICO’s lead for fraud, security and compliance in the Asia-Pacific. “Around 40 percent of Filipinos have a smartphone and, according to a recent study, they rank in the top 10 mobile internet users globally, spending an average of 4.58 hours a day on their phones.”

Bucking expectations, FICO said it was older consumers in the Philippines who were more likely to be leading the digital push, with the youngest Filipinos being the laggards.

Forty- six percent of those over 55 years old said they would open a bank account online; 40 to 45 percent of 25to 34-, 35- to 44- and 45- to 54- year- olds said they would do the same; and 28 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds would open a bank account online.

“Younger Filipinos [may be] adept at using smartphones and computers, [but] many do not have the required identification forms to open bank accounts at a young age, don’t have regular income or are presented with bank account options that are not appealing,” Bose said.

According to the firm, a large percentage of Filipinos have an expectation that they should be able to complete all aspects of account opening online or on their smartphones.

“Out of the regular identity checks needed to open an account, 67 percent of Filipinos thought they should be able to prove their identity by scanning documents or providing a selfie; 47 percent expected to prove where they live without going offline; and 45 percent said they should be able to set up a biometric, such as a fingerprint scan, at account opening,” it noted.

If all actions required to complete an account opening cannot be accomplished in-session, only 41 percent of respondents said they would carry out the necessary offline actions as soon as possible.

FICO also pointed out that around 33 percent thought they would eventually complete offline actions, such as taking a phone call, posting documents or visiting a branch.

An additional 13 percent said they would try a competitor, while 5 percent said they would give up completely.

“Overall findings demonstrated that financial institutions in the Philippines that don’t facilitate a completely digital account opening experience could lose over 40 percent of their new business,” FICO said.

The survey was produced using an online, quantitative poll of 5,000 adults across 10 countries carried out by an independent research company.