How many BSP digital-bank licences exist in the Philippines?

Six. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) issued exactly 6 digital-bank licences under Circular 1105 (2020) and closed the framework to new applications in 2021. The licensees are Tonik Digital Bank, Maya Bank, UnionDigital Bank, Overseas Filipino Bank (LANDBANK subsidiary), UNO Digital Bank, and a sixth GCash-affiliated entrant. The 6-licence cap is the structural fact that makes the BSP digital-bank licence scarce — there is no public timeline for reopening applications.

Is GoTyme a BSP digital bank?

No. GoTyme Bank Inc. operates under a BSP universal-bank licence, not a digital-bank licence. The licence was granted via the conversion of an existing rural-bank charter (Rural Bank of Cuyapo) when the Tyme Group / JG Summit joint venture launched in 2022. The product surface is digital-first, but the underlying regulatory class is broader than the digital-bank framework — universal banks can take deposits, lend, and offer the full retail product mix.

How does PDIC deposit insurance work in the Philippines?

The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) covers up to PHP 500,000 per depositor per BSP-licensed bank. The ceiling applies across all deposit balances at the same institution combined — the main account, all sub-accounts, savings goals, and time deposits. At a USD/PHP rate near 57 the ceiling is roughly USD 8,800 — substantially smaller in dollar terms than FDIC ($250K), FSCS (£85K), or DGSD (€100K). Depositors with balances above PHP 500,000 should split funds across multiple PDIC-member banks.

Are GCash and Maya the same as Maya Bank?

No. GCash and the Maya consumer wallet are e-money issuers (EMIs) regulated under BSP Circular 649 — they are not BSP-licensed banks and their balances are not PDIC-insured. Maya Bank is a separate BSP digital-bank licensee that sits underneath the Maya brand. Funds held in the Maya Bank account are PDIC-covered to PHP 500,000; funds in the standalone Maya wallet (or in GCash) are safeguarded under EMI rules but not deposit-insured. Read the licence type before treating a balance as protected.

Which Philippine digital bank has the highest savings APY?

Tonik Stash has historically advertised tiered rates up to 6.0% APY, the highest published headline rate in PH retail digital banking. Maya Savings has matched 6% on tiered ladders. GoSave (GoTyme) tops out near 5.0%. All three are PDIC-insured to the same PHP 500,000 ceiling, so the choice between them reduces to the licence class, the parent backing, and which distribution model — all-app (Tonik, Maya), in-mall kiosk (GoTyme) — fits how you onboard.

Best Neobanks in the Philippines 2026: BSP Digital-Bank Licences + PDIC Compared

The Philippines' neobanks,
by BSP licence class.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas issued exactly six digital-bank licences under Circular 1105 of 2020 and closed the framework to new applications in 2021 — Tonik, Maya Bank, UnionDigital, OFBank, UNO Digital, and a sixth licensee make the full cohort. GoTyme operates under a separate universal-bank charter (rural-bank conversion). All BSP-licensed banks are PDIC members at the PHP 500,000 ceiling. E-wallets like GCash and standalone Maya are not banks and are not deposit-insured. The licence class drives the protection — read it before the marketing.

6BSP digital-bank licences (cap)

PHP 500KPDIC ceiling per depositor

Up to 6.0%Top tiered APY (Tonik / Maya)

Last verified11 March 2026

Two BSP licence classes,
one PDIC ceiling.

The Philippine framework is a cleaner story than most regulators tell. There are two relevant licence classes for retail digital banking, both BSP-supervised, both PDIC-covered, but issued under different regulatory frameworks. The 6-licence cap on digital banks is the structural scarcity that defines the cohort.

The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation covers up to PHP 500,000 per depositor per BSP-licensed bank. Membership is statutory for all BSP-licensed universal, commercial, thrift, rural, and digital banks — Tonik, Maya Bank, GoTyme, UnionDigital, OFBank, and UNO Digital are all PDIC members, and an eligible PHP deposit at any of them sits inside the same statutory envelope as a deposit at BDO, BPI, or Metrobank. The ceiling applies across all balances at the same institution combined — main account, savings sub-accounts, time deposits, and stash buckets are netted before the PHP 500,000 cover is calculated.

The headline ceiling is small in dollar terms. At a USD/PHP rate near 57 the PHP 500,000 cover is roughly USD 8,800 — substantially below FDIC ($250,000), FSCS (£85,000), or the EU DGS harmonised ceiling (€100,000). Depositors holding more than PHP 500,000 in PHP-denominated savings should split balances across multiple PDIC-member institutions to layer cover. This is the operational consequence of the licence-class distinction at scale: the protection is real, but the headline ceiling is calibrated for the domestic median balance, not for high-net-worth or expat use cases.

E-wallets are not deposit-insured. GCash (operated by Mynt / Globe Fintech Innovations) and the standalone Maya wallet (operated by Maya Philippines) are licensed as e-money issuers under BSP Circular 649 — not as banks. Customer balances are safeguarded in trust accounts at custodian banks, but they are not deposits and PDIC cover does not apply. Maya Bank, sitting underneath the same brand family, is a separate BSP digital-bank licensee — funds held there are PDIC-covered. The brand is the same; the licence is not. Read the licence type on the receiving account before assuming a balance is protected.

See the BSP / Philippines glossary entry for a walk-through of the licence classes and how BSP publishes them, and the individual Tonik, GoTyme, and Maya Bank reviews for product-level detail.

How this ranking is built.

Each candidate is scored on licence class (BSP digital-bank vs universal-bank vs EMI), PDIC membership status, published headline savings APY, parent backing, and product surface (PHP-only retail vs integrated wallet vs in-mall distribution). The ranking is editorial and explicitly excludes affiliate compensation as a ranking input — none of the structured rows on this page carry an affiliate relationship at the time of writing. Rates and licence-status references were verified against BSP's published licensee register, PDIC's member directory, and each operator's public deposit-product page on the dates noted in data_as_of. Where an operator's status has shifted (e.g. UNO Digital's 2024–2025 disruption), the relevant editorial entry calls it out and points readers at the BSP/PDIC primary sources for current status. We do not reproduce BSP-confidential supervisory ratings.

For the highest PHP yield, pick a digital-bank licensee.

For PHP-denominated savings where headline APY is the deciding factor, the BSP digital-bank licensees — Tonik and Maya Bank — currently lead the market with tiered rates that have reached up to 6.0% APY. Both sit inside the same PDIC PHP 500,000 envelope. For depositors who want in-person card issuance and a broader product surface, GoTyme's universal-bank charter and Robinsons Retail kiosk distribution are the structural picks. Splitting balances across two PDIC-member institutions is rational above the PHP 500,000 ceiling, regardless of which licence class you start with — the per-bank cover doesn't aggregate.

The Philippines' neobanks,
by BSP licence class.

Two BSP licence classes,
one PDIC ceiling.

All 6, by licence + protection class.

Read the licence,
not the marketing.

How this ranking is built.

For the highest PHP yield, pick a digital-bank licensee.

Two BSP licence classes,one PDIC ceiling.

All 6, by licence + protection class.

Read the licence,not the marketing.

How this ranking is built.

For the highest PHP yield, pick a digital-bank licensee.

Two BSP licence classes,
one PDIC ceiling.

Read the licence,
not the marketing.