One Million Accounts in Eight Months
That number speaks louder than narratives about BaaS potential. In October 2026, RCBC and PalawanPay announced that the PalaSave service had surpassed more than 1 million accounts, far exceeding the year-end target set at launch in January 2026. This achievement was reached in only eight months—an adoption speed rarely seen for conventional savings products.
PalaSave is not a conventional bank product. It is a savings feature embedded directly within the PalawanPay app. Verified users can open an RCBC Basic Deposit Account without downloading a separate banking app and without a minimum balance. The service offers annual interest of up to 4% on qualifying balances, with no initial deposit. For many users, this may be their first formal bank account—an entry point into the formal financial system that previously felt distant and complicated.
BaaS as a Bridge, Not Just Technology
For RCBC, PalaSave marks the first live implementation of its Banking-as-a-Service strategy. Banking infrastructure from DiskarTech—RCBC’s digital business unit—was embedded into a non-bank platform that already had a large user base and community trust. PalawanPay, known for its agent network and remittance services, brings physical and social reach that pure digital banks do not have.
Lito Villanueva, EVP and Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer at RCBC, emphasized that this achievement proves Filipinos are ready to adopt digital savings when financial services are made simple, accessible, and available through platforms they already know and trust. This statement highlights the essence of BaaS that often gets buried in technical discussions: banking technology only matters when it meets user habits and trust at existing touchpoints.
Why Non-Bank Platforms Become Strong Distribution Channels
PalawanPay has an advantage that digital banks built from scratch find difficult to replicate: a physical agent network and social capital built over years. In many Philippine regions, especially outside urban centers, trust in formal financial institutions remains low, while trust in platforms that have served daily needs—remittances, bill payments, mobile top-ups—is much higher.
By embedding a savings account into an app already used for daily transactions, RCBC and PalawanPay reduce the psychological and operational barriers to opening a bank account. Users do not need to “go to a bank”; the bank comes to them through an app already on their phones. This model aligns with market findings that embedded finance through super-apps and everyday platforms is a major driver of BaaS growth in the Philippines.
Lessons for BaaS Players and Incumbent Banks
The PalaSave case offers several practical insights. First, adoption speed depends heavily on an established distribution channel. Building a new app from scratch requires high customer acquisition costs; embedding services into an already-used platform dramatically reduces friction. Second, product simplification—no minimum balance, no separate app, competitive interest—is not just an added feature but the core of the value proposition for unbanked and underbanked segments.
Karlo M. Castro, President and CEO of Palawan Group of Companies, stated that this achievement is not the finish line but a step toward a larger goal: making financial inclusion a reality for more Filipinos. In the BaaS context, this statement reminds the industry that success metrics do not stop at the number of partners or transaction value, but at how many people previously outside the system now have access to and use formal financial services sustainably.
