Oxfam, Visa launch debit card for stricken families 2 yrs. after Yolanda

By KEITH RICHARD D. MARIANO, GMA News

Published August 26, 2015 11:54am

(Updated 8:36 p.m.) Nearly two years after Typhoon Yolanda raked through the Visayas in November 2013, an international group on Wednesday officially launched a prepaid card for the families in disaster-stricken communities.

Oxfam has partnered with Visa Inc., UnionBank of the Philippines, i2C and other organizations for the Electronic Prepaid Solution Project – a humanitarian cash transfer program.

Under program, a beneficiary is issued an Oxfam Visa Prepaid Card with a fixed amount that can be withdrawn from automated teller machines and remittance centers.

A beneficiary can use the prepaid cards for over-the-counter purchases at local merchants and for transactions at mobile stores 20 kilometers from their respective communities.

The system was tested in Tacloban City in Leyte and in San Sebastian, San Jorge and Catbalogan in Western Samar.

Oxfam issued 2,700 prepaid cards since December 2014, with a total of $188,023 transferred to the beneficiaries.

"The program has proven that the Oxfam Visa Prepaid Card is more than just a payment tool that enables beneficiaries to purchase everyday items conveniently and securely," said Stuart Tomlison, Visa country manager for the Philippines and Guam.

"It also ushers many of the beneficiaries into the formal financial system, helping them develop life-enhancing financial skills," he added.

Financial inclusion

The program lets beneficiaries decide for themselves when and how they would spend the cash assistance, Oxfam country director Justin Morgan said.

Apart from purchasing water, sanitation and hygiene items, food and medicine, the beneficiaries may use the money as emergency fund or for investment.

In a barangay in Western Samar, the beneficiaries managed to put up fish cages and buy fishing boats for livelihood, said Florcefida Babon, a holder of the Oxfam Visa Prepaid Card.

"The roadmap is to start off the beneficiaries to be a part of the financial system and hopefully, after that, they start getting actual bank accounts for them to start saving and do other banking services beyond the basic payments," UnionBank Senior Vice President Paolo Eugenio Baltao said.

Infrastructure needed

Oxfam could have launched the electronic payments solution for disaster-affected families earlier and completed rolling out the project within three to six months.

"The reason it took quite longer than normal to launch the program was because of the fact that we were looking at a lot of options. We also needed to create the infrastructure needed. There was not a prepaid platform available in the Philippines before the program," said Morgan.

The transfer of humanitarian aid to beneficiaries is facilitated via the i2C technology.

"The platform enables rapid deployment of customized electronic payment solutions anywhere in the world, so Oxfam and Visa can react quickly to get funds into the hands of people in need in the most secure and efficient way possible," i2C International General Manager Scott Salmon said.

With the project now in place, Oxfam is ready to distribute prepaid cards immediately after a disaster strikes a particular community, Morgan said. – VS, GMA News

Tags: oxfam, visainc, yolandaaftermath, oxfamvisaprepaidcard