Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said the BSP will issue additional regulations to address discrimination against persons with disability (PWD) and to ensure their access to credit and banking services will not be prejudiced.

“A banking and financial system responsive to the needs of persons with disability will provide them access to welfare-enhancing formal financial services,” said Diokno on Thursday, Dec. 9, in an online press briefing. He said that through digital financial inclusion, PWDs with access to formal accounts and credit “will be in a position not only to overcome restrictions brought about by the pandemic, but also prepare them to take full advantage of opportunities in the post-COVID economy.”

For the moment, the central bank is not receiving a deluge of complaints against bank practices that are not friendly to PWDs.

Diokno said the number of complaints from PWDs “is quite low” or about 0.1 percent of the total consumer concerns as of the third quarter this year.

For the first six months, the BSP received 14 complaints compared to only four in 2020 and zero in 2019. “But, after the issuance of our memo (Memorandum No. 2021-040) in July, this fell to four. These complaints do not necessarily pertain to discriminatory practices against persons with disability but are similar in nature to the complaints by consumers which include issues on interest charges, undispensed amount and unprocessed bill payments,” said Diokno.

Complaints are dealt with according to existing laws that protect PWDs. “(There are) laws as basis for legal sanctions and penalties that can be imposed on erring entities and the officers,” said the BSP chief. Prescribed penalties for violations range from P2,000 up to P200,000, while some cases have imprisonment of up to two years.

“BSP (has) continuous dialogues with the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) to keep our regulations responsive to the needs of persons with disability sector,” said Diokno. In coordination with NCDA, the BSP conducts information sessions catering to the PWD sector.

The BSP is also pushing for the passage of the Financial Consumer Protection bill to “further strenghten enforcement of consumer protection standards in the financial sector and to better respond to the needs and challenges of persons with disability,” said Diokno.

BSP’s financial inclusion office deputy director, Cesar E. Villanueva, said they are currently in the process of fine-tuning disaggregated data to include PWDs and to have a more accurate information with regards to their access to accounts and credit.

For Diokno and the BSP, PWDs represent a key segment of its financial inclusion agenda.

The BSP has already issued regulations to uphold Batas Pambansa 344 (An Act to Enhance the Mobility of Disabled Persons by Requiring Certain Buildings, Institutions, Establishments, and Public Utilities to Install Facilities and Other Devices) and Republic Act No. 9994 (Expanded Senior Citizens Act).

The BSP also issued regulations on non-discriminatory practices by BSP-supervised financial institutions, and a risk-based customer acceptance and identification policy to make account opening simpler for PWDs.

Also, in 2020, the central bank incorporated additional tactile marks to banknotes for easier identification of different denominations by the visually-impaired.

Last July 16, the BSP through a memo reminded all BSP supervised financial institutions to follow pro-PWD laws and regulations to stop any discriminatory practices such as non-acceptance of a PWD identification card for the opening of accounts and other financial transactions.

The BSP also reprimanded and issued strong warnings against banks that turn away visually impaired persons from opening bank accounts, and requiring visually impaired customers to open only joint “and/or” accounts.

The memo also ordered banks to provide accessibility ramps, and Braille systems in their premises and ATM, as well as PWD express lanes.