PDIC moves to strengthen the rural banking industry

CEBU, Philippines - After the “Legacy bank” scam that crumpled the rural banking industry in the Philippines, the Philippine Insurance Deposit Corporation (PDIC) is making aggressive moves to strengthen this particular financial sector, which is considered as the backbone of countryside economic development.

Part of its campaign to recover the confidence of depositing public especially to the rural banking industry, is the recently concluded “Be A Wise Saver” campaign that tapped students, or the new breed of savers, educating them on basic saving know-how.

PDIC led by its president Jose C. Nograles, and officials of the Philippine Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP), as well as members of the Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP) recently held its second roadshow in Cebu which gathered over a thousand students from the University of San Jose Recoletos (USJ-R) and the University of San Carlos (USC).

“The key to protect people from being victimized by scams is financial literacy. We are tapping the students because they are the small savers, and eventually they will be the next wave of savers or depositors in the future,” Nograles said in a press conference.

Now, that the PDIC has increased its deposit insurance to P500 thousand, Nograles said Filipinos assured that their bank deposits are secured. However, depositors should also be educated on how to choose a bank.

During the forum with the students, Nograles discussed the importance of advocating financial literacy and said it is one means of providing depositor protection.

The “Be A Wise Saver” campaign promotes the seven habits of a Wise Saver which aims to protect savers from fraudulent schemes. The seven habits are; Know your bank; Know your bank products; Know your bank’s services and fees; Keep your bank records safe and updated; Transact only inside the bank with authorized bank personnel; Be informed about PDIC deposit insurance and Be cautious.

The PDIC first launched its financial literacy advocacy five years ago with its Financial Literacy Program (FLP), the first ever school-curriculum based financial literacy program in the country, and the first such project initiated by a deposit insurer in the Asian region.

It is a nationwide advocacy that informs the young people of the value of saving, the impact of savings mobilization to economic growth, and the PDIC’s role in helping maintain the stability in the banking system.

The Philippines deposit rate stood at 14 percent, this is expected to increase while people are starting to save via the banking system, not keeping their money “inside the bed” or in “piggy banks”.

Moreover, with the PDIC’s increased insurance protection in every deposit, Nograles said people will have confidence now to save their money in the banks.

PDIC, in partnership with the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education, effectively integrated these lessons in the public and private high-school curriculum through economics and values education subjects, as well as colleges with courses in business administration. Around seven million students are expected to be financially educated every year through the project.