Is my money safe in a digital bank?

Yes, as long as two things are true: the money is a bank deposit, and you stay within the PDIC limit.

PDIC covers up to ₱1 million per depositor, per bank

The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) insures deposits up to ₱1,000,000 per depositor, per bank. Every bank operating in the Philippines is a PDIC member, digital banks included.

“Per bank” is the part people miss. If you have a savings account, two goal accounts and a time deposit at the same bank, PDIC adds them all up, and the combined total is covered to ₱1 million. Two banks give you two separate ₱1 million limits.

That’s why our calculator never puts more than ₱1 million in any one bank.

An e-wallet balance is not a deposit

Money sitting in an e-wallet (GCash, or the Maya Wallet) is e-money, not a bank deposit, so PDIC doesn’t insure it. Move it into the bank’s actual savings account and it becomes a deposit.

Maya makes this easy to mix up because the wallet and the bank live in the same app. The Maya Wallet is run by Maya Philippines, Inc.; Maya Savings, Personal Goals and Time Deposit Plus are deposits at Maya Bank, Inc. Only the second group is covered by PDIC.

Digital bank or traditional bank: same cover

A BSP digital bank licence doesn’t change your deposit insurance. A ₱500,000 deposit at a digital bank and a ₱500,000 deposit at a big traditional bank are both covered in full. What differs is how you reach the bank (an app, not a branch) and what it pays.

Quick checklist

• Is it a deposit account at a bank, not an e-wallet balance?
• Is your total at that one bank ₱1 million or less?
• Is it a BSP-regulated bank? (Every bank on this site is.)

If the answer to all three is yes, your money is covered.