The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, is reportedly looking to set limits on the number of digital banks in the country amid policy review.

The central bank is aiming to issue guidelines on the emerging markets before this year ends, Bloomberg reported.

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In a virtual briefing, BSP governor Benjamin Diokno said that under a planned policy, digital banks must obey the same corporate and risk management standards as traditional banks.

He said that the regulator had discussions with both domestic and foreign companies that are looking to set up a digital bank in the country, the report added.

Diokno added that the central bank will formally accept applications once rules are out and it “reserves the right to set a limit on the number of digital bank entrants.”

He also said that since the virtual currency transactions reached PHP59bn ($1.2bn) in the first half of this year, the BSP will keep active oversight of digital tokens.

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Moreover, the country’s monetary authorities have completed the disqualification of the bankers involved in falsifying documents for fraud-hit payments company Wirecard.

BSP will also implement a debt payment relief programme for consumers, the Bloomberg report added.

In July 2020, BSP issued draft guidance for establishing digital banks in the country.

Under this guidance, digital banks were not allowed to establish physical branches for banking operations other than customer service.

Southeast Asian countries are setting up rules on virtual banks as firms like Grab Holdings, AMTD Group and more recognise the scope of fintechs in the region.

In June 2020, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) shortlisted 14 applications out of the 21 submitted to issue up to five digital banking licences to non-banks later this year.