Friday, December 19, 2008 Bankers urge public to prepare early for Christmas week
SAN FERNANDO CITY -- A local group of bankers has advised the public to prepare their cash requirements early in light of an eight-day long Christmas week set to start December 24.
The holiday is deemed to be the longest ever in recent history with a stretch of non-working holidays up to January next year as declared by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo under her administration’s “holiday economics” designed to give the country’s government and private workforce a respite and more time to spend the joyous season with their families.
Pursuant to Proclamation 1463, which the President signed last February 18, holidays already declared by Malacañang are the regular holidays on Thursday, December 25 (Christmas Day) and Tuesday, December 30 (Rizal Day) as well as Wednesday, December 31 as a special non-working holiday.
An official of the City of San Fernando Bankers’ Association, who requested anonymity, said their group, composed of rural and commercial banks, on Thursday said they urge their clients and the banking community to prepare their cash requirements as early as now.
The official said January 2 falls on a Friday and is most likely to be declared a non-banking day although no formal announcement has been made by Arroyo and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
The BSP earlier said its cash department will open to serve banks’ needs and cushion the possible effects of the long holiday period.
The official said business establishments and private companies, including government offices in the province, have been advised to brace for the long holiday.
“We urge all our clients, big and small, to make sure all their cash management-related instructions and transactions, like payroll uploads and payment of government obligations, are transmitted and approved on or before December 23, to give banks ample time for any possible adjustment before the long break,” the official said.
The official added that they have reminded their clients to manage their cash flow well and deposit local checks before December 23 and regional checks before December 19 to ensure that these clear in time before the non-banking week commences.
“Although most of us have ATMs and phone banking services, we encourage consumers to pinpoint bill due dates and settle them early if possible, to avoid the inconvenience of disconnection of vital service utilities, discontinued credit and overdue payment penalties which could run to thousands of pesos if computed daily.”
“And one more thing,” the official said, “we encourage our clients and non-clients alike to have their big denomination notes changed to the smaller, crisp P20 and P50 bills since we have a limited supply right now.”
The issuance of crisp notes, the official said, is done by the BSP at this time of year to keep the tradition of giving cash gifts to godchildren, friends and relatives who fancy having bundles of newly printed and minted small denominations in envelopes. (JTD)
