THE MariBank Philippines Inc. becomes the seventh digital bank in the Philippines after the Monetary Board (MB) approved its request to upgrade its banking license from a rural bank to a digital bank.
The approval was contained in the MB Resolution 133 dated February 19, 2026, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Circular Letter CL-2026-035. The circular was issued a month after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved MariBank’s amended Articles of Incorporation and By-laws bearing the digital banking license.
On July 8, 2026, the corresponding Certificate of Authority to operate as a digital bank was issued by the central bank governor, the circular also noted.
According to the BSP, the former rural bank commenced its operations as a digital bank on July 18, 2026.
MariBank now joins the six digital banks that have been granted licenses and are operational in the country.
According to the BSP website, these six digital banks are GoTyme Bank Corp., Maya Bank Inc. , Overseas Filipino Bank Inc. (a digital bank of Landbank), Tonik Digital Bank Inc., UnionDigital Bank Inc., and UNObank Inc.
In an earlier interview, Lyn I. Javier, BSP Deputy Governor for Financial Supervision Sector, told reporters that the central bank will announce ‘in due time’ the new digital banks that would be granted licenses.
‘In due time ’cause I cannot say so because even if we approve granting a license, they still have to process the articles of incorporation, bylaws, which process is beyond the control of the BSP,’ added Javier.
‘When we receive the application we have to compare them across [several elements],’ she explained. ‘We have to look at the business model, we have to vet, we have to look at the fitness and propriety of the owners, the proposed directors, officers.’
‘So as you go through the process as well you have to go back to the applicant and ask these questions and again vet. So we have to vet it thoroughly,’ Javier added.
It doesn’t end there, however.
After vetting, Javier said there would be more discussions.
‘Are they offering a viable or a good value proposition already for the industry, and then other developments would come in. So those are the factors we consider,’ she added.