BENEL D. LAGUA
As of June 2018, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reports that 155 banks – out of 581 head offices – have tapped 1,751 branch-lite units to expand physical outreach in 738 local government units (LGUs), of which 151 LGUs were being served by branch-lites alone. Branch-lites have limited banking activities but could provide a wide range of products and services suited for servicing the needs of the market, except for sophisticated clients with aggressive risk tolerance. These branch-lites were formerly referred to as extension offices, microbanking offices and other banking offices.