Chinatrust issues Internet-based cards

Chinatrust (Philippines) Commercial Bank Corp. has issued over 250,000 Internet-powered cash cards in the first nine months of the year, twice its original target for the whole of 2007.

The cash cards accounted for P662 million in funds generated and approximately P6 billion in interbank fund transfer (IBTF) volume.

Chinatrust Philippines president Joey A. Bermudez said that the amount represented a substantial growth in less than two years in the market.

“Our Internet-powered Visa debit and cash card facility has become a major driver in the growth of the bank’s low-cost deposit base and fee income,” Bermudez explained.

The debit and cash card is a non-deposit based multi-purpose card that provides clients with the benefits of an ATM card and a debit card in one service delivery platform. Combined with the bank’s unique Net Banking platform that allows the transfer of funds to individual cash cards through the Internet, the facility soon became the platform of choice not only in the disbursement of personal loans, but also in the remittance of funds by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to their beneficiaries.

Bermudez further explained that its electronic banking business enables flow of funds from centralized accounts to multiple destination accounts.

“As a result, transmission costs have come down substantially, benefitting the ordinary salaried workers, small suppliers, and OFWs,” he added.

Just recently, Visa International recognized Chinatrust Philippines as the Philippine bank with the highest retail sales volume growth for Visa debit, and the institution with the highest average spend Visa debit card in 2006.