Digital financial inclusion in the Philippines is increasingly becoming a question of what happens after a customer opens an account. Banks and electronic wallet providers have expanded access to digital payments, but account ownership does not necessarily translate into regular saving, responsible borrowing or broader use of regulated financial products.

For RCBC, that distinction is shaping the development of two digital initiatives. The MySSS Card, delivered through RCBC DiskarTech in partnership with the Social Security System (SSS), connects government benefit disbursements with a bank account, debit card and wider set of financial services. The US Virtual Account in RCBC Pulz addresses a different customer segment, allowing Filipinos in the Philippines to receive and retain US dollar funds without opening an account in the United States.

Lito Villanueva, executive vice president and chief innovation and inclusion officer at RCBC, described both initiatives as part of a wider effort to move customers beyond payment access. “Financial inclusion is not only about payments,” he said. “It is about payments, investments, savings, insurance and loans.” The bank’s strategy is therefore not only to onboard customers, but to connect the initial transaction with other forms of financial activity.

SSS distribution gives digital banking an institutional entry point

RCBC officially launched the MySSS Card with SSS in October 2025. The product combines access to the government agency’s MySSS platform, an RCBC DiskarTech savings account and a Mastercard debit card that can be used for physical and online payments.

At the time of Villanueva’s interview, more than 600,000 SSS members had received the card. RCBC also reported that more than PHP 2.4 billion (approximately $39 million) in SSS benefit payments had been disbursed through the platform between the October launch and the end of June 2026. The adoption figures increased substantially from the programme’s initial phase. Within the first three months, over 113,000 cards had been requested, according to the bank.

Part of that growth came from the distribution model. Rather than relying only on digital advertising or conventional bank channels, RCBC worked through SSS branches, government communications and physical onboarding support. The two organisations conducted caravans at selected high-traffic SSS branches, beginning in Metro Manila before extending into provincial cities.

SSS also promoted the card through its own social media channels and public communications. This gave the service access to an established membership base and placed the banking proposition within an existing relationship between the government institution and its members.

The approach shows how institutional distribution can reduce some of the customer acquisition barriers associated with financial inclusion. SSS has an estimated 42 million members, including workers, pensioners and other beneficiaries who may not be reached consistently through bank branches or standalone digital campaigns.

Assisted onboarding remains important for new-to-bank customers

The MySSS Card can be requested through the SSS platform, after which the member downloads DiskarTech and completes the account-opening process. The onboarding flow uses Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) identity information, with a transaction reference generated through SSS and checked against the national identity database.

Although this reduces the need for multiple physical documents, RCBC has retained an assisted element. Agents deployed at SSS locations help applicants navigate account opening and use the application.

This is relevant for customers who may have experience with digital wallets but not with formal bank accounts. Villanueva said feedback from on-the-ground agents suggested that many applicants had not previously held a bank account, although he also distinguished these observations from verified customer-level evidence.

The qualification is important. Rapid account growth demonstrates the reach of the distribution partnership, but it does not by itself establish how many customers were previously unbanked. Measuring the programme’s inclusion effect will eventually require more detailed information on prior account ownership, active usage, retained balances and the adoption of additional financial services.

The onboarding process also remains dependent on external infrastructure. Villanueva said some customers had encountered difficulties associated with weak telecommunications signals rather than the identity process itself. Digital access can reduce documentary and geographic barriers, but network quality and familiarity with mobile applications continue to affect the customer experience.

The US Virtual Account gives recipients more control over conversion

RCBC is using a different digital structure for customers receiving money from overseas. In November 2025, the bank launched a US Virtual Account within RCBC Pulz through a partnership with US-based solutions provider Meridian.

The service allows Filipinos based in the Philippines to receive US dollar transfers without providing a US address or US Social Security number. Customers can retain the funds in dollars rather than having them converted automatically into Philippine pesos.

“There is no automatic conversion of your US dollar proceeds to Philippine peso,” Villanueva said. “The beneficiary has that power now, has that option now.”

This changes part of the conventional remittance process. In many cases, recipients receive the peso equivalent of an overseas transfer or withdraw the full amount shortly after it arrives. The virtual account allows them to hold the balance in US dollars, convert only what they need and choose when to exchange the remaining amount.

For customers receiving larger remittances, small changes in the exchange rate can affect the final peso value. Villanueva said this was particularly relevant for transfers from North America, where transaction sizes can be higher than in some Middle Eastern and Asian remittance corridors.

The account can also support uses beyond household remittances. A customer operating a business in the Philippines could retain dollar receipts and later use the funds for payments to overseas suppliers. Dollar balances may also be linked to investment, insurance or other bank products available through the wider RCBC ecosystem.

The virtual account is becoming part of a wider cross-border platform

Early adoption of the US Virtual Account was smaller than the MySSS programme, reflecting the more specific customer use case. Three months after launch, RCBC reported thousands of users with millions in US dollar deposits.

Growth across the wider RCBC Pulz platform indicates rising digital activity, although more account-specific data is needed to assess how regularly customers receive, hold, convert and transfer dollar funds.

RCBC Pulz already supports six international currencies, according to Villanueva. The bank is also developing additional remittance connections, including an Australia corridor through EzyRemit and other partnerships involving international payment providers.

This moves the service away from being a single US remittance feature and towards a broader cross-border account environment. Customers may use it to receive overseas income, hold foreign currency, convert funds or make payments linked to personal and business activity.

The underlying requirement is connectivity between multiple institutions and jurisdictions. RCBC provides the customer account and application, while external partners support payment origination, account infrastructure, remittance corridors and settlement.

Partnerships extend reach but also distribute operational responsibility

Both the MySSS Card and the US Virtual Account depend on organisations outside RCBC. SSS provides access to its membership base and government disbursement flows. Meridian supports the US virtual account structure. Pito AxM Platform is expanding cash access through more than 4,000 cash-recycling machines in 7-Eleven stores, while EzyRemit supports the Australia remittance corridor.

“At the core of what RCBC is doing is that we cannot do it alone,” Villanueva said. “No single institution or no single bank would be able to do all these things without the support of partners.”

The model allows the bank to expand distribution and functionality without building every component internally. Government institutions contribute reach and identity-linked processes, while payment and technology companies provide specialised infrastructure.

It also means the customer experience depends on the performance of several parties. Service availability, identity verification, cash access, remittance processing and telecommunications connectivity may sit across different organisations. As the ecosystem expands, governance and operational coordination become more important.

RCBC describes this approach through banking-as-a-service, embedded finance and API banking. In practice, the model places the bank’s regulated accounts and financial services inside channels that customers already use or within partnerships that address a specific payment or access gap.

RCBC’s inclusion strategy is moving from access to usage

RCBC’s development of MySSS and the US Virtual Account shows two different approaches to expanding digital banking. The first uses government distribution to bring a large membership base into a formal account. The second uses cross-border infrastructure to give remittance recipients and internationally connected customers more control over foreign-currency funds.

Both begin with a transaction that already exists. SSS members already receive benefits and apply for government services. Filipino households and businesses already receive payments from overseas. RCBC is placing a bank account and additional financial tools around those flows.

For MySSS customers, the next question is whether benefit disbursement leads to continued saving, payments, transfers and responsible use of credit. For US Virtual Account users, the question is whether the ability to retain dollars becomes part of regular remittance, savings or business behaviour.

The bank has demonstrated that partnerships can increase reach and accelerate onboarding. The longer-term measure will be whether customers remain active after the initial transaction and use the account to manage a wider part of their financial lives.

In that model, digital inclusion is less about launching a standalone application than embedding regulated banking into the institutions, payment flows and customer activities that already exist.