Bank moves to encourage OFWs to save

Sterling Bank of Asia has waived initial deposit and minimum maintaining balance requirements for accounts owned by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in an effort to encourage them to save.

“We want to help OFWs secure their future,” said Sterling Bank CEO Lamberto R. Villena on Tuesday in explaining their rationale behind the recently launched Bayani OFW Savings (BOS) Account.

“Our Bayani OFW Savings Account makes it simple and affordable for them to save a portion of their remittance for future needs,” Villena added.

Although the BOS account has no initial deposit or maintaining balance requirement, it must have at least one foreign exchange remittance transaction on or before the first anniversary of the account’s opening.

Deposits of P2,000 entitles the account to interest earnings.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has recently noted a decline in savings among OFW families in its Consumer Expectations Survey for the third quarter of 2013.

Based on the survey, the percentage of OFW households that saved part of the remittances decreased to 34.3 percent in the third quarter from 39.4 percent in the second quarter of the year.
 
Sterling Bank’s BOS Account also comes with a Bayani OFW Savings Visa debit card that will allow OFWs to access their funds anywhere in the world and an option to enrol in Sterling Bank Online for free to allow them to monitor their funds any time.
 
The Bayani OFW Savings Visa debit card has an EMV chip that offers better protection from fraud than magnetic stripe cards and is the global standard for chip-based credit and debit transactions. — KBK, GMA News