Sterling Bank to lure OFWs to save more by waiving reqm’ts

MANILA, Philippines - To encourage more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to save their hard-earned money, Sterling Bank of Asia said it is waiving the initial deposit and minimum maintaining balance requirements in its recently launched Bayani OFW Savings (BOS) account.

“We want to help OFWs secure their future. Our Bayani OFW Savings account makes it simple and affordable for them to save a portion of their remittance for future needs,” Sterling Bank CEO  Lamberto R. Villena said.

In its Consumer Expectations Survey for the third quarter this year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has noted a decline in savings among OFW families.

Based on the survey, the percentage of OFW households that saved part of their remittances decreased to 34.3 percent in the third quarter from 39.4 percent in the second quarter.

Although Sterling Bank’s BOS account has no initial deposit or maintaining balance requirement, it must have at least one foreign exchange remittance transaction on or before the first anniversary of the account’s opening. Deposits worth P2,000 and above entitles the account to interest earnings.

Sterling Bank’s BOS Account also comes with a Bayani OFW Savings Visa debit card that will allow OFWs to access their funds anywhere in the world and an option to enrol in Sterling Bank Online for free to allow them to monitor their funds any time.

The Bayani OFW Savings Visa debit card has an EMV chip that offers better protection from fraud than magnetic stripe cards as it is now the global standard for chip-based credit and debit transactions.

Sterling Bank was the first bank that issued Visa EMV-chip enabled ATM cards when it launched its ShopNPay Visa debit and prepaid cards in 2008.

Currently, 52 percent of its card base already have EMV chips for better security against ATM frauds.

The bank has set aside some P132 million to put up 13 new branches next year to bring its total network to 51 branches.

Two of the 13 new branches would be located in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig while other locations are slated to open in San Pablo-Laguna, Calamba-Laguna, Caloocan, San Fernando-Pampanga, San Fernando-La Union, Puerto Princesa, Lucena, Legaspi-Albay, Naga, Boracay and Zamboanga.