BanKO enrolls 4Ps beneficiaries

MANILA, Philippines - BPI Globe BanKO has enrolled 50,000 beneficiaries of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) to its mobile banking facility.

BanKO is the first and only mobile-based savings bank, which allows the unbanked or under-banked population access to formal banking services.

The thrift bank is a joint venture among Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), Globe Telecom, and Ayala Corp.

Recently, BanKO entered into a partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), through its Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), for the thrift bank’s financial literacy program through mobile banking.

The project, which started in March this year, aims to alleviate the current financial situation of the beneficiaries of the 4Ps by enhancing the basic financial literacy of the program participants.

Within a four-month period, almost 3,000 sessions have been conducted in 10 regions.

After explaining the principle of “income minus savings equals expenses”, participants are offered the opportunity to start saving formally in a bank account.  

BanKO only requires P100, one valid ID and a Globe or TM SIM to open an account.  

BanKO president John Rubio said the banking and telecommunications expertise of BanKO aspires to provide affordable and convenient access to formal banking services for every Filipino.

“We want to eliminate the burden of our countrymen who want to rebuild their lives and we are able to do this by supporting DSWD programs,” Rubio added.

BanKO’s plans to scale up its partnership with DSWD through conditional cash transfer disbursements, livelihood loans and livelihood through BanKO partner outlets.

SLP faces the challenge of instilling the habit and culture of savings to its program participants within the current context of low financial inclusion in the Philippines.

A report published by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reveals that only 20 percent of the Filipino population actively uses formal savings facilities such as a bank account.

Some of the factors attributed to this statistic include cultural beliefs, poor education and information dissemination, lack of attractive products and services for the low-income sector, and proximity to banks, to name a few.

Studies also show that access to such formal financial services would be a significant step towards improving the socio-economic conditions of an impoverished household.