Landbank to assist in bank account opening of nat’l ID registrants

State-owned Land Bank of the Philippines said Friday it has allotted more than P153 million for the hiring of over 1,000 service contract workers   who will assist in the opening of bank accounts for unbanked national ID registrants.

In a statement, Landbank said the service contract workers are now being deployed across various locations in the country.

Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, the bank said that of the 10.5 million initial registrants to the national ID system or PhilSys, more than 82% indicated that they do not have bank accounts.

With this, Landbank president and CEO Cecilia Borromeo said facilitating the opening of bank accounts for registrants to the PhilSys will help ensure the speedy and efficient delivery of future government assistance programs to unbanked national ID holders.

Service contract workers who will augment Landbank’s existing manpower, will co-locate with the PSA in national ID registration centers, Borromeo said.

The PSA is the lead agency in the nationwide registration of PhilSys applicants.

Apart from assisting in the opening of bank accounts for unbanked national ID registrants, service contract workers will also help to ensure the strict observance of social distancing and health protocols during the registration process and opening of accounts.

“Our participation in the PhilSys registration is in line with the Duterte administration’s financial inclusion agenda of bringing unbanked Filipinos to the financial mainstream, and is in response to Secretary Dominguez’s directive for us to accelerate our shift to digital-based transactions to prepare us for the new economy,” Borromeo said.

She said it will be offering its Mastercard Prepaid Card to unbanked PhilSys registrants free-of-charge.

She added that Landbank will set up account opening booths to facilitate account application and Know-Your-Customer (KYC) activities at designated co-location areas.

Landbank’s Mastercard Prepaid Card can likewise be used by Philsys ID holders to withdraw cash at ATMs and point-of-sale (POS) cash-out terminals, shop online and perform cashless transactions, as well as receive any government subsidy digitally, Borromeo said.

The card is also contactless enabled, which means it can be used for “tap” payments, such as for the Automated Fare Collection System (AFCS) that the government plans to roll out for public utility vehicles (PUVs) within the first half of 2021. -MDM, GMA News