LandBank, Visa launch gov't purchase cards to digitize public spending

The Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) has partnered with global payments provider Visa to launch a Government Purchase Card (GPC) that will serve as a credit card for government institutions to make low-value purchases with.

According to LandBank, it targets to have 2,000 agencies onboarded into the system by the end of the year, up from the current 107 agencies, in a bid to automate public spending and provide greater oversight and accountability.

“We’re very positive that many agencies have already onboarded, 107 to be exact. Our current target is to increase that to about 2,000,” LandBank department manager Joseph Del Valle said in a briefing in Manila City.

Over 700 cards have been issued so far to government agencies, mostly to agency heads and senior officials, which LandBank first vice president Kris Cuevas said removes the need for paper-based cash advances and liquidations.

The cards are given spending limits based that will be set by government agencies, and will be restricted to merchants that are only involved in the industry that the agency covers. It will also have an integrated digital expense management platform set to be go live in the fourth quarter.

The platform is set to automate the full process of public spending from transaction capture and reconciliation, to approval workflows, and reporting.

“There is zero risk because this is a government purchase card, it’s meant to be used for its purpose and the agencies will also pay this upfront for their users,” LandBank executive vice president Marilou Villafranca said in the same briefing.

“Through this innovation, we see this impactful collaboration with LandBank giving government agencies greater control over their processes, enabling them to be more agile and transparent to ultimately improve delivery of services to the Filipino public,” Visa Philippines country manager Jeffrey Navarro said. — BM, GMA News