The Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) onboarded two new LANDBANKasama partners in Western Visayas on December 7 at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol, Iloilo City.
Under the LANDBANKasama Program, the state-run Bank is partnering with client cooperatives, associations, rural banks, local government units (LGUs), micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and private entities to help provide basic banking services on behalf of the Bank to areas with limited or no accessible banks.
The new LANDBANKasama Partners – Hinigaran Multi-Purpose Cooperative (HMPC) and Guimaras Employees Multi-Purpose Cooperative (GEMPC) – will enable Western Visayans to enjoy convenient banking services without having to travel long distances to other towns to transact at the nearest LANDBANK branch.
President and CEO Lynette Ortiz led the LANDBANKasama rollout with Provincial Government of Iloilo Vice Governor Christine Garin and Administrator Raul Banias, and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Assistant Regional Director Joselito Estember.
They were joined by new LANDBANKasama partners represented by HMPC Project Manager Happy Elaine Aguilar and GEMPC Manager Raymundo Lao, alongside LANDBANK Director Nancy Irlanda, and First Vice Presidents Vivian Cañonero and Ma. Elenita Manucom, among other local and LANDBANKasama partners.
The HMPC touchpoint located at San Agustin Heights, Brgy. Narauis, Hinigaran, Negros Occidental, will help serve the banking requirements of all 24 barangays and nearby municipalities of Isabela and Pontevedra.
Meanwhile, the GEMPC partner at San Miguel, Jordan, is expected to bring financial access closer to all of the five municipalities of Guimaras, namely Buenavista, Jordan, Nueva Valencia, San Lorenzo, and Sibunag.
Financial inclusivity
LANDBANKasama is a rebrand of the Bank’s Agent Banking Program (ABP), called as such to better captures the goals of the Program to create strategic points of banking access and promote collaboration towards expanding financial inclusion.
LANDBANKasama Partners offer various services including cash withdrawal, cash deposit, fund transfer, bills payment, and balance inquiry, and benefit beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program of the DSWD, as well as government employees, teachers, students, and other private clients in the area.
Aside from LANDBANK prepaid accounts, LANDBANKasama also now allows clients to make transactions using their LANDBANK savings accounts.
The program also seeks to empower and benefit customers through lower transaction costs, and enable potential savings on travel and associated expenses for clients located outside of municipal or city centers.
With the onboarding of the two partner cooperatives, LANDBANK has a network of 1,086 LANDBANKasama Partners nationwide, 129 of which are in the Western Visayas Region. (PR)