The Central Bank of the Philippines has issued guidelines for granting digitalization technical assistance under the Rural Bank Strengthening Program. The support will help qualified rural banks migrate from legacy systems to cloud-based or Software-as-a-Service core banking systems, covering an implementation period of up to six months and a fixed 36-month subscription period after the system goes live. Support includes system configuration, data migration, integration, testing, training, cloud infrastructure, technical support, updates and maintenance. Eligible banks must have applied or submitted a letter of intent for a qualifying Rural Bank Strengthening Program track between Sept. 21, 2022, and Sept. 21, 2025, comply with minimum capital requirements and have no existing cloud-based or Software-as-a-Service core banking subscription. The central bank will also assess each applicant’s supervisory and risk profile, outsourcing controls, technology readiness and operational capacity, with the arrangement treated as material information technology outsourcing. Applications will be accepted one month after the guidelines are issued, with the deadline to be announced separately. Applicants must complete a readiness self-assessment and obtain board approval, while approved banks must execute the technical assistance agreement within 10 banking days of notification.
2026-08-12Central Bank of the Philippines
Central Bank of the Philippines sets guidelines for rural bank cloud core banking support, including 36-month subscriptions
The Central Bank of the Philippines has set rules for supporting qualified rural banks’ migration to cloud-based core banking systems. Assistance covers implementation for up to six months and a 36-month subscription, subject to capital, readiness, outsourcing and supervisory assessments. Applications open one month after issuance, with the deadline to be announced separately.