securities and exchange commission, will be allowed to issue their own securities – called “ investment unit instruments ” – to potential investors. once bad assets have been sold to the asset management corporations, they will have the authority over these assets, and they may either lease, sell, or, in case of npls, restructure these assets. they have a life of two years from the start of the law ’ s effectivity, but this can be extended for another two years if deemed necessary. moving on … another way we are seizing opportunities from this crisis is by further promoting financial digitalization. it is one of the fastest ways to increase access to financial services, particularly in remote areas where banks do not have branches. digitalization also enables quicker capital turnaround, thereby accelerating income growth. the bsp has been a firm supporter of financial digitalization. and with the crisis - induced lockdowns having boosted the use of digital banking, we are seeing more industry players being up to the task. my twin goals is that by end june 2023, first, 50 percent of all financial transactions in the philippines will be done electronically and second, that 70 percent of all filipino adults will have bank accounts. but with the spike in usage of online banking due to the lockdown, these goals may be achieved earlier. four million new digital accounts were created from march 17 to april 30 this year. even before the pandemic, there are two existing major platforms that allow funds to be transferred electronically from an account in one bank to an account in another bank – the pesonet and instapay. as a result of the pandemic the use of both platforms has increased exponentially. the use of instapay surged by 740 percent year - on year in volume, from 2. 9 million to more than 24 million transactions in july. 10 / 13 bis central bankers'speeches the use of pesonet, on the other hand, rose by 137 percent year - on - year in volume — to 2. 6 million transactions in july 2020, up from 1. 1 million transactions in july 2019 indeed, as a result of the pandemic, the shift to digital payment options is phenomenal. complementing financial digitalization is the implementation of the philippines ’ national identification system ( philsys ), which will happen soon. the crisis has highlighted the importance of having a comprehensive and reliable database of citizens. for one, it is imperative for the effective rollout of welfare

time, the uncertainty about the liquidity situation of banks is reduced, so that banks can increasingly lend each other money again, even across the borders of the member states. the focus of this instrument on the real economy is particularly illustrated by the fact that not only in the first step is the existing loan portfolio crucial for the allocation of liquidity, but also in the second step the trend over the period of the transaction will be considered. thus, banks are required to expand further their lending to business and households in the coming months and years. to reinforce these measures, the governing council decided last week to start purchasing asset - backed securities ( abs ) as well as covered bonds, such as pfandbriefe, in october. the details of these two programmes will be announced after the council meeting in early october. the decision to start buying abs is the first result of intensive preparations that are still ongoing. for me it is clear that these measures are aimed at the monetary policy transmission channel. they should not be equated with a broad programme of quantitative easing ( qe ), nor with overtures to it. moreover, the economic logic of the anglo - saxon qe programmes cannot be applied one to one to a bank - financed economic system like that of the euro area. also, qe effectiveness would be questionable in the light of the eroded yields of marketable securities. the surge in the markets for interest - bearing securities would also strain the soundness of our balance sheet, should we make large - scale purchases in such an environment. and it goes almost without saying that the purchase of government bonds would raise considerable institutional, instrumental and legal issues. although some are apparently pushing in this direction, this option would only be considered on two conditions : 1. if prices stay at their current very low level for too long, and 2. strict compliance with our monetary policy mandate. but back to the market for abs. we have been looking at this closely for some time. we believe that it could be an important channel for increased lending to small and mediumsized enterprises. because of their size, smes cannot generally issue bonds. if banks now get a chance to securitise loans to smes, and to sell them to other investors, a major obstacle to long - term lending to these enterprises is removed, namely the risk of non - payment and the low liquidity of these loans in difficult times. a functioning abs market can therefore make an important contribution to ensuring that our monetary