State-owned Land Bank of the Philippines is keen on expanding financial literacy on digital products and services in 13 provinces across the country.
Through its Bilis Ipon: Digital Financial Inclusion Caravan, LandBank has been conducting educational sessions on savings, loans and livelihood.
More than 700 farmers and fisherfolks who are also beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps have participated in this financial literacy caravan whose service areas include Ilocos Sur and Misamis Occidental.
Financial literacy caravan
Through this caravan, the participants were able to open basic deposit accounts or LandBank PISO Plus accounts that do not require an initial deposit and a maintaining balance.
“We at LandBank believe that financial inclusion is the cornerstone of empowered and resilient communities. We remain steadfast with our commitment to bridging the financial gap by bringing accessible banking solutions closer to Filipinos, including those in remote and underserved areas,” LandBank president Lynette V. Ortiz said.
The caravan has also introduced the AGRISENSO Lending Program, a credit program with more accommodating terms and caters to small farmers and beneficiaries of the Agrarian Reform.
According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Filipinos with basic deposit accounts already increased by 174 percent to 22.9 million last year compared to 8.3 million in 2022.
LANDBANKasama Partners
To reach more unbanked Filipinos and provide digital financial services, LandBank said it will continue to partner with local government units, cooperatives, private firms and micro, small and medium enterprises under its LANDBANKasama Partners program.
The central bank recently signed a memorandum of agreement with the Cooperative Development Authority to help cooperatives design digital retail payments as a step toward the country’s digital transformation.
Through digital products and services, LandBank said the public can save more money as they will no longer need to visit bank branches and quickly build credit worthiness based on records of their digital transactions.
The state-owned bank currently has over 1,080 LANDBANKasama Partners.
LandBank will be bringing its next caravan to Nueva Ecija, Cavite, Ilocos Norte and Negros Occidental.