By Rjay Zuriaga Castor
Banking services are brought much closer to remote and underserved areas in Western Visayas as the Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) introduced its “LANDBANKasama Program” to the region on Thursday.
In this initiative, the state-run bank collaborates with client cooperatives, associations, rural banks, local government units, as well as micro, small, and medium enterprises to deliver essential banking services in areas with limited or no access to traditional banks.
“It is really an outreach, a partnership with communities, cooperatives, and rural banks to be able to provide financial access to our constituents,” said Lynette Ortiz, LANDBANK’s president and chief executive officer.
The LANDBANKasama offers a wide range of services, including cash withdrawal, cash deposit, fund transfer, bills payment, balance inquiry, and the opening of LANDBANK prepaid cards.
With banking services offered within the customer’s reach, the program aims to reduce transaction costs and enable savings on travel expenses for customers residing outside major city centers.
“There had to be a way for LANDBANK clients to do basic financial services. Being able to withdraw funds, being able to deposit funds, pay your bills,” Ortiz added.
She further emphasized that through the program, beneficiaries of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) residing outside main urban areas can conveniently avail themselves of the conditional cash transfer program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development through agent banking partners.
Alongside the program’s soft launch, LANDBANK has also onboarded two new partner cooperatives, namely the Hinigaran Multi-Purpose Cooperative (HMPC) and Guimaras Employees Multi-Purpose Cooperative (GEMPC).
This brings the total LANDBANKasama Partners nationwide to 1,086, with 129 of them located in the Western Visayas Region.
Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr., in a prerecorded video message, commended LANDBANK’S effort to advance greater financial access to Ilonggo clients and stakeholders.
“This is a significant step towards advancing inclusive development for the province of Iloilo, especially the municipalities that will host the LANDBANKasama agents,” he said.
He added that the lower transaction costs caused by much closer access to banking services will help the 4Ps beneficiaries of the province. “This will greatly benefit our 4Ps and other social amelioration beneficiaries in the municipalities as they no longer have to travel far for their banking transactions,” he said.
LANDBANKasama is an upgraded version of the Bank’s previous Agent Banking Partner Program, where clients can now transact using their savings accounts in addition to their LANDBANK prepaid accounts.
Ortiz said they will simultaneously and officially launch nationwide the LANDBANKasama in January next year.
