##tances for social and economic development through our economic and financial learning program. challenges however, while we have positives, there are concerns that we need to address. foremost is the adverse impact on remittance costs and flows of the closure of accounts of several money transfer operators ( mtos ) by correspondent banks who are limiting their exposure to possible channels for money laundering and other financial crimes. this is a derisking strategy largely driven by business decisions of foreign banks, weighing the risks and benefits of dealing with remittance companies. this has been going on in recent years and has not been helped by the present money laundering case here. since the closures limit the players that can competitively operate in the remittance market, this has the potential to reverse the steady gains we have made in reducing remittance costs. de - risking may also result in movement by ofs toward informal remittance channels and subsequent financial exclusion. in the end, this may exact an even larger toll on the ofs and their families in terms of deprivation of access to safe and reliable financial services. we are therefore addressing this issue. as early as 2014, we started raising our concerns on the adverse impact of de - risking with relevant international institutions. this includes the financial action task force, alliance for financial inclusion, the global partnership for financial inclusion of the g20, the us department of treasury, the financial stability board, and the world bank. in addition, we are gathering data and closely coordinating with concerned stakeholders for a more evidence - based response. among others, we have an ongoing national risk assessment ( nra ) which is an inter - agency effort to evaluate the country ’ s money laundering and terrorist financing vulnerabilities and weaknesses. this will enable us to sharpen our focus in ensuring effective enforcement of international standards against money laundering and terrorist financing. bis central bankers ’ speeches on the other hand, there is a silver lining : technological innovations from the market promise more cost - effective remittance channels. in today ’ s language, these are called “ disruptive innovations ”, the act of creating new value chains from existing markets or value chains. the advent of more affordable smart phones has encouraged new players ( e. g., financial technology companies or fintechs ) and new business models to address the problem of cost. there are now online money transfer services that are linking international remittances to facebook. 3 customer acceptance of these developments seems likely. in a recent global survey

both of which have over a billion in population. financial inclusion and remittances indeed, there are many challenges – and opportunities – in providing access to financial services to migrant workers and their families. the remittances sent home are mostly used for consumption expenditures – 97. 3 % of of households used the remittances to purchase food and other household needs. this helps drive our economy. bsp department of economic statistics more than 10 million ofs sent $ 25. 8 billion worth of cash remittances in 2015, up by 4. 6 % from $ 24. 6 billion in 2014. bis central bankers ’ speeches another positive development, as indicated by a bsp survey ( ces ), is the rising proportion of households directing remittances received to savings – from 7. 2 % in 2007 to 43. 4 % in the first quarter this year. this is one of the many reasons why philippine bank deposits have been hitting record high levels - it was p8. 5 trillion in december 2014 and over p9. 2 trillion as of december 2015. nevertheless, the challenge and the opportunity is to encourage more investments by of households ; it continues to lag way behind savings. as indicated by our survey, households that allocated part of their remittances for investments, increased from 2. 3 % in 2007 to only 6. 5 % in the first quarter this year. that is over a period of nearly nine years! for institutions, the challenge is to develop and promote products suited to the needs of ofs. financial education is essential for ofs to realize the opportunities - as well as possible pitfalls - in investments. equally important, financial institutions should consider it their responsibility to inform ofs of their rights and protection as financial consumers. the importance of remittances for enhancing the financial stability of ofs and the economic growth of our country cannot be overemphasized. as part of the bsp ’ s program to develop a more inclusive financial system, we have put in place policies and programs to enable the development of a wide range of products that can cater to the needs of ofs and their beneficiaries. we also continue to implement a nationwide economic and financial learning program where we have a special focus on ofs. in fact, the bsp won the global forum on remittances and development public sector award for 2015 in recognition for what it described as outstanding commitment, innovation and impact in promoting remit