amando m tetangco, jr : protecting the consumers of financial services in the philippines keynote address by mr amando m tetangco, jr, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( the central bank of the philippines ), at the launch of the banking code for consumer protection, bank marketing association of the philippines general membership meeting, manila, 24 october 2012. * * * mr. allan tumbaga, president of the bank marketing association of the philippines ( bmap ) ; mr. patrick cheng, president of chamber of thrift banks ; mr. edward garcia, president of the rural bankers association of the philippines ; mr. cesar virtusio, executive director of the bankers association of the philippines ; officers and members of bmap ; mbm peter favila ; former bap president gigi montinola ; friends in the banking sector ; colleagues from the bsp ; ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. it is my pleasure to join you in launching the new banking code for consumer protection. the bangko sentral commends bmap, as well as the rest of the industry associations for working together in updating the code. this is tangible proof of your responsiveness and commitment to provide the best service possible to your clients. it is also evidence of your recognition that the lifeblood of the banking system comes from client deposits and investments, and that their trust is something that banks must strive to preserve. this is why bankers, from top management down to the frontline staff, must exercise prudence and vigilance in ensuring that banking operations are optimally carried out. the preservation of public trust is likewise the underlying imperative for the bangko sentral ’ s policy and regulatory actions. this drives us to constantly emphasize that the business of banking requires serious effort to keep operations within the bounds of safety, soundness and professional management. this practice, in itself, is already equivalent to protecting the consumers of financial services. however, responsible banking is more than just business savvy and prudent risk management. responsible banking means a conscientious focus on clients by putting their best interest at heart. it means recognizing that they deserve the highest standards of service. client - centered banking entails embedding consumer protection in business operations. products and services must be designed, priced and delivered in ways that match client needs. adequate measures must be in place to ensure that the consumers are not unduly disadvantaged by business processes.

endeavor, our other what we called bsfis, non - bank electronic money issuers, non - bank regulated entities who are partners of the bsp and the industry as well in this endeavor represented also by your senior officers, ladies and gentlemen, my colleagues from the bsp welcome to the bsp and good afternoon to all of you! implementing nrps three ( 3 ) years ago ( in 2014 ) there was a survey conducted by the better than cash alliance. remember this? and i keep citing this in some of my earlier speeches. the survey revealed that only one percent ( 1 % ) of retail payments by volume of transactions are being done electronically! that was in 2014. the compelling challenge that we all faced was how can this dismal statistic be improved. so we articulated a vision. in december of 2015, the bsp launched the national retail payment system or nrps initiative. great industry and government collaboration was required to do this. it aimed to create an inter - operable ecosystem allowing seamless electronic fund transfers and payments from one account to another. 1 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches today ’ s event was actually preceded by several singular acts — accomplishments that built upon one another that ultimately comprise the foundation on which the nrps is built. laying the nrps foundation : psmb and ppmi in march of this year, the charter of the envisioned payment system management body ( psmb ) was signed by the industry players. the interim board of the psmb – the retail payments consultative group, is a distinguished group comprising of the executive committee of the bankers association of the philippines. the psmb was subsequently incorporated into a legal entity now known as the philippine payments management, incorporated ( ppmi ) and this was incorporated last august 30. the ppmi, the industry - led self - governing body, will assist the bangko sentral in overseeing the payments industry while driving innovation and reforms in the payment space. the ppmi shall play a major role in carrying out nrps principles. peso net, another step towards the goal the pioneer ach we launch today under the nrps framework is one of those dynamic and disruptive steps towards our goal. it implements a batch electronic fund transfer ( eft ) scheme. the participants have christened it, “ the philippine eft system and operations network ”... quite a mouthful but it is shortened to, “ peso net ". and i can see that the logo that they adopted is a combination of