Landbank expands agent banking

MANILA, Philippines — State-run Land Bank of the Philippines plans to expand its Agent Banking Program to make its services more accessible to Filipinos in unbanked and underbanked areas in the country.

In a statement, Landbank president and chief executive officer Cecilia Borromeo said the program has allowed the bank to serve Filipinos in remote areas where financial services are inaccessible.

Under the program, the bank enters into a partnership with cooperatives, associations, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and private entities in areas without Landbank presence to facilitate services, such as cash-out transactions, fund transfer and bills payment.

“With the help of our agent partners across the country, we are bringing more Filipinos into the financial mainstream, thus, promoting greater financial inclusivity,” Borromeo said.

To further spread its benefits, the bank seeks to expand the features of the program to allow Filipinos in the countryside to pay their loan amortization through partner-establishments.

Landbank also plans to increase the number of its agent partners, particularly from unbanked and underserved areas, to widen its reach and bring basic banking services closer to more Filipinos.

“Before this year ends, Landbank targets to get 16 new direct agent banking partners on board, convert 64 eligible point-of-sale (POS) cash-out only partners into full-suite agent banking partners, and accredit 200 new full-suite agent banking partners in locations with high number of Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) beneficiaries,” Landbank said.

According to Landbgank, the program allows Filipinos in places without formal banking presence to access financial services at lower transaction cost and less travel and related expenses.

Beneficiaries of the national government’s conditional cash transfer and unconditional cash transfer programs may also withdraw their cash grants through the Landbank agent partners.

The program is now being implemented in 14 provinces through 820 point-of-sale terminals.

In the first four months, around 1.16 million transactions amounting to P4.77 billion were completed via the bank’s full-suite agent banking partners and POS cash out-only partners.