Tacloban: Bank deposits in Eastern Visayas grew by 10 percent in the first half of 2025, mainly due to the improved economy, an official said on Thursday. Deposit liabilities in the region rose to PHP198.75 billion from last year's PHP180.53 billion, marking an increase of PHP18.22 billion deposit liabilities refer to money placed by an individual or corporation into a banking institution for safekeeping.
According to Philippines News Agency, Victorio Tingcang, area director of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Tacloban branch, stated that electronic transactions have connected financially underserved Filipinos to formal financial services providers. "The regional economy is very good, and the expansion of banks and growing deposits are expected every year. Digital banking also allowed common people to do banking easily, and that contributed to growth," Tingcang said.
The PDIC banking statistics on its website showed that accounts grew by 7.32 percent from 1,544,119 as of mid-2024 to 1,657,294 in the first six months of this year. The number of banks increased to 319 as of June 2025 from 315 in the previous year. All provinces also posted significant growth in both accounts and deposits.
Tingcang noted that the expansion of existing banks and the opening of new banks in the region facilitated easy money transfer and encouraged businesses to expand their operations outside major commercial districts. More banks have opened branches in Leyte, Eastern Samar, Samar, and Southern Leyte, based on the PDIC report.
Data revealed that of the PHP177.47-billion deposit portfolio, PHP120.13 billion was in Leyte province, PHP21.89 billion in Samar, PHP20.95 billion in Southern Leyte, PHP15.08 billion in Northern Samar, PHP15.63 billion in Eastern Samar, and PHP5.04 billion in Biliran. The remarkable growth in Leyte is largely driven by the operation of 51 banks in Tacloban City. The regional capital had PHP72.47 billion in deposits as of the first semester of 2025, higher than PHP65.12 billion a year prior. The number of accounts in the city rose to 463,406 as of June 2025 from 438,711 the previous year.
