Landbank clarifies banking services for 4Ps, gov’t employees

Allow us to clarify the opinion column of Mr. Jake J. Maderazo – “Landbank services to gov’t employees, 4Ps, pensioners need improvement” – on 09 August 2022.

We are the only bank present in all 81 provinces in the country, and in line with our continuing thrust of advancing financial inclusion and countryside development, we continue to increase our touchpoints for our customers.

Currently, LANDBANK is present in 1,226 out of the total 1,634 cities and municipalities of the country, with a penetration rate of 75%. As of 30 June 2022, we have a total of 608 branches, 58 lending centers, 936 Agent Banking Partners (ABPs), and 231 cash deposit machines (CDMs) nationwide.

The Bank also has a wide ATM network of 2,869 as of 08 August 2022, spread strategically across the country. LANDBANK cardholders can also transact in 1,850 7-Eleven ATMs in selected areas free of charge, which will soon increase to 3,000 stores nationwide, easily doubling our existing ATM network.

Just last 05 August 2022, we inaugurated 10 new mobile ATMs as part of our 59th Anniversary celebration, bringing to 20 the total number of mobile ATMs that we deploy in areas affected by natural disasters and calamities, as well as for the distribution of cash pay-outs in far-flung areas for 4Ps beneficiaries and government cash subsidies or “ayuda.”

Meanwhile, the Bank is continuously upgrading its systems to ensure safe and efficient banking services. These system upgrades are always conducted during off-peak periods, i.e., before or after paydays, to minimize service disruptions, with corresponding Client Advisories posted on our official social media channels to immediately inform our clients.

LANDBANK does not have a “service quota” of only 1.1 million transactions per day. We have the capacity to service the requirements of government employees, indigent 4Ps, and senior citizens, among our other clients.

The Bank is also not “trying to holding on” to “billions of payroll money and social pension funds” to increase our assets and deposits. The surge of 94% to P20.3 billion in income from January to June 2022 as compared to the Bank’s income of P10.3 billion for the same period last year was due to our prudent management of the cost of funds, sustained interest income from loans and investments, and the merger between LANDBANK and UCPB in March 2022.

We continue to provide banking services to government agencies through our branches and ATMs located within the premises of government offices, with the public sector accounting for the bulk of LANDBANK’s total deposits at 62% or P1.53 trillion.

For the 4Ps, please be informed that the DSWD instructs LANDBANK to fund the Prepaid Cards (formerly Cash Cards) of the beneficiaries based on the scheduled pay-outs. Grants already credited to the Prepaid Cards do not become part of the assets of the Bank since credited grants are already owned by the beneficiaries. These can be withdrawn anytime through LANDBANK ATMs, point-of-sale (POS) terminals of our ABPs in the far-flung areas which allow cash-out transactions like an ATM withdrawal, or over-the-counter (OTC) at their designated LANDBANK Servicing Branches, as well as through the more than 20,000 ATMs of other BancNet-member banks nationwide.

To date, LANDBANK has already fully carded 4.4 million 4Ps beneficiaries. The bulk of unclaimed 4Ps Prepaid Cards totaling 200,000 is for the beneficiaries in the BARMM. Rest assured that LANDBANK and DSWD are in close coordination to facilitate the completion of the 4Ps Prepaid Cards distribution.

VIVIAN M. CAÑONERO
Vice President
Head, Corporate Affairs Group