IF YOU were a senior citizen visiting your bank, would you not mind being whisked away as if you were an untrustworthy stranger?
In fairness to the banking system, let me tell you of two experiences I had with two banks on a single day – the first one unpleasant, the other pleasant – which involved exchanging a magnetic-strip ATM card with a microchip one.
Tuesday morning (April 17), I went to the Metrobank branch on Delgado Street, Iloilo City for that purpose. It surprised me that I, a senior citizen and its depositor for more than 10 years, was asked to wait for my turn at the “new accounts” counter. An hour having passed and a long way to go for my number “24” to be called, I went out for lunch and came back at 3 p.m.
It surprised me that the teller asked me to “re-apply” for my existing ATM account and to show government-issued IDs. I did, only to be told that she could not accept my senior citizen’s ID because it was a machine-copied duplicate. I protested because as an existing depositor, my signature would have been enough to prove my identity. Despite that supplication, she would not replace my old card with a new one. Meanwhile, I could no longer withdraw money on my old ATM card. Disgusting! Metrobank was depriving me of my own money!
In contrast, for the same purpose – “renewing” my ATM card – I had a pleasant experience with BPI bank branch on Valeria Street at 6 p.m. that same day. No less than a bank official received me in her cubicle and handed me my new microchip card within minutes.
If all banks were as friendly as BPI, more Filipinos would patronize banks. The fact, however, is that a trusting depositor could be “emptied” of his money and never be refunded.
In this corner almost three years ago, I cited the experience of retired government employee Bernardita Lerio when she tried to withdraw cash from her ATM account at Landbank (Plaza Libertad branch). Instead of dispensing cash, the machine “ate” her card. That day being a Sunday, there was no personnel except the security guard who asked her to come back “tomorrow na lang.”
She came back as suggested and got back her card. But her expected balance of P26,000 had by then diminished to only P63.73. Somebody else must have withdrawn her money. The bank manager asked her to file a formal complaint, which she did but to no avail. To this day she is waiting for a refund of her lost deposit.
No wonder there is “dismal failure” of Philippine banks to win sufficient depositors. The latest word from the World Bank is that only 10 million Filipinos maintain bank accounts. This means that even those with unspent money prefer other alternatives of “growing” it.
Regular savings accounts do not earn attractive interest. On the contrary, accounts that fall below the bank’s required minimum deposit gradually “melt” because of penalty imposed. The measly 0.75 to one percent interest per annum is another reason why the savings rate is low. As if this were not bad enough, the earned interest also shrinks due to government-imposed withholding tax.
I remember a tale shared to me by a friend, for whose daughter she opened a “kiddie savings account.” After a year, she withdrew all of it (P5,000) due to an emergency. Imagine her disgust on realizing that the accrued interest could not even cover her taxi fare to the bank. (hvego31@gmail.com/PN)
