LAST week, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) urged the consuming public to do their financial transactions digitally to avoid crowds in light of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said there are advantages in going cashless amid the virus outbreak.
Of course there are. If we are able to put distance between ourselves and other people, we reduce the risk of contracting the disease.
But, to put it bluntly, Diokno is barking up the wrong tree.
Many consumers these days have the technology to perform digital transactions. The sticking points are recalcitrant financial institutions and backward utilities.
In 2007, I suggested to Roberto Montelibano, then president of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) that it would be advantageous for Ceneco’s consumers to pay their electricity bills by electronic funds transfer (EFT). He agreed. But in the intervening 13 years, nothing has happened.
I hope COVID-19 will be a trigger which will engender EFT payments. This could mean a reduction of crowded waiting areas for consumers (aka as far as many utilities are concerned, supplicants).
All queues are a function of the relative importance that the receiving entity places on its staff’s time and the value (if any) it puts on the consumer’s time.
Diokno says that the BSP continues to advance its ‘financial inclusion agenda with digital innovations as a catalyst and strategic enabler.’
Yes, but what does BSP actually do so that desirable outcomes are achieved?
Anything? What authority does it have in this arena? Any?
Meanwhile, our financial institutions rake in enormous profits from loans at very high rates of interest.
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One area where digital transactions have made substantial inroads is the airline industry. Both Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific have excellent systems where customers can book and pay for their journeys.
Air travel is great when it works well, but when things go awry due to unscheduled unavailability of aircraft, then delays can be horrendous.
Family members were inconvenienced last Dec. 12 when, at the last minute, our Cebu Pacific flight from Manila to Bacolod was cancelled.
Overnight accommodation was offered. A mid-ranking police officer of our acquaintance readily accepted the airline’s offer. After all, the people of Bacolod will, hopefully, still be safe. Our family is not so fortunate. We have an incontinent septuagenarian who needs overnight supervision. By making strenuous representations, we were able to obtain a flight with eight hours’ delay which mitigated the problem.
My recommendation, however, is that alongside the airline’s booking system is a question which elicits the customer’s preference if the airline is unable to meet its contractual obligations. Instead, we had to put up with snippy ground staff who unnecessarily treated customers like unwanted sheep./PN
