Landbank distributes P133.6 billion cash aid last year

MANILA, Philippines — State-run Land Bank of the Philippines helped the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) distribute P133.61 billion to more than seven million beneficiaries of the government’s cash transfer programs.

Landbank president and CEO Cecilia Borromeo said the government-owned bank remains steadfast in the timely delivery of social protection interventions to the most vulnerable sectors.

“We will continue to work closely with the DSWD to contribute to the national government’s inclusive development agenda,” Borromeo said.

Landbank released a total of P123.74 billion under the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program that benefitted 4.4 million low-income families, for education and health needs of the children and financial support for households.

Likewise, a total of P9.86 billion was delivered to 2.8 million unconditional cash transfer (UCT) beneficiaries as part of support interventions in line with the implementation of Republic Act 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.

As of end-February, the bank provided cash cards to 9.8 million CCT and UCT beneficiaries to facilitate more convenient withdrawals of social pension and grants in future payouts.

The state-run bank also upgraded the cash cards of all CCT and UCT beneficiaries into transaction accounts to provide the beneficiaries wider access to an array of banking services.

Beneficiaries can now perform cash card loading via Landbank branches, receive funds through the bank’s mobile banking app, and cash-in via Landbank cash deposit machines, among others.

Previously, the CCT and UCT beneficiaries can only do limited transactions with their cash cards, such as withdraw cash from ATMs and agent banking partners nationwide.

To provide the beneficiaries more financial access points, Landbank has also on-boarded a total of 888 partners in far-flung communities as of end-2021 to ensure the timely delivery of government subsidies.

The bank serves as the delivery arm for the national government’s social protection initiatives in support of the country’s underserved and marginalized sectors.