PVB taps digital models to better serve veterans

As Covid-19 accelerated the adaptation of profitable digital models in most banks, the Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB) responded with a much calibrated and blended response to cater to the verticals it serves.

“Most veterans will go through the traditional model. But there are also some who transact online. We have also explored other means, like some years back, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) approved agency banking, where, if you want to withdraw, you don’t have to go to the bank itself,” PVB first vice president and marketing communication head Miguel Angelo C. Villa-Real said during an exclusive interview over Daily Tribune’s “Straight Talk” on Tuesday.

More accessible
“You, instead, can go through the bank’s partner-businesses, like pawn shops, which have more branches nationwide and are more accessible. It’s not exactly an ATM, but it’s more comfortable and convenient,” he added.

According to him, the PVB is a private commercial bank owned by the World War 2 veterans.

But, since only around one percent of the original stockholders are surviving, the owners of the bank are now the veterans’ children or grandchildren.

According to Villareal, the bread and butter of the bank has always been corporate deposit and lending products.

The clients, who are veterans, are usually the pensioners of the government through the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office.

The Philippine Veterans Bank is one of the government’s conduit banks for pension. While it doesn’t provide benefits, although most World War 2 veterans are the stockholders.

According to Villa-Real, recorded at the bank’s registry are about 384,000 Filipino World War 2 veterans as its stockholders.

Convenient transactions
There are a lot of issues that we saw a pensioner goes through when claiming his pension, so we made adjustments, like we already accepting handwritten notes of a pensioner, and affixed with his signature — even without notary.

“We also extended the period of withdrawal,” Villareal said, explaining that “We’ve also had changes in confirming proof of life.”

The biggest issue, according to him, are ghost pensioners, thus the bank has upgraded its services by tapping modern technology to verify that the pensioner is still alive.