CARD Bank receives 2018 Financial Inclusion Champion award

In the photo are (from left) BSP Managing Director Pia Roman Tayag, CARD Bank, Inc. President and CEO Marivic M. Austria, CARD Bank, Inc. Senior Management Adviser Dr. Dolores M. Torres, BSP Monetary Board Member Antonio S. Abacan, CARD Bank, Inc. Executive Vice President Lorenza dT. Bañez, CARD MRI Managing Director Flordeliza L. Sarmiento, CARD MRI Founder and Chairperson Dr. Jaime Aristotle B. Alip, BSP Monetary Board Member V. Bruce J. Tolentino, and BSP Monetary Board Member Juan D. Zuñiga, Jr. Photo by BSP.

CARD Bank, Inc. was again recognized by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as its Outstanding Financial Inclusion Champion during the 2018 Awards Ceremony and Appreciation Lunch for BSP Stakeholder on July 10, 2018.

The award is in recognition of the continuous effort of CARD Bank in reaching the hard to reach unbanked communities and provide them with various affordable financial products and services that would eventually move them out from poverty.

“We at CARD Bank are so inspired to receive again this award because this has been our source of motivation to always pursue our goal of providing responsible and sustainable financial services to low-income households who do not have access to formal financial institutions,” said Marivic M. Austria, President and CEO of the bank.

CARD Bank has been the Financial Inclusion winner of BSP since 2013.

Bringing services closer to the poor

CARD Bank, together with the 20 member institutions under CARD Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI), is heading towards the 5-8-40 strategic direction where in five years starting 2016, CARD MRI will reach eight million clients and insure 40 million individuals.

Strategically, according to Austria, CARD Bank is continuing its expansion to unbanked areas to continuously deliver microfinance services closer to its clients’ doorsteps. To date, CARD Bank has 87 branches, one Head Office, and 653 unit offices and Branch-Lite Units nationwide.

“We had opened branches already to areas where financial institutions are limited and we will continue to do that this year and the coming years. We will continue to push and challenge ourselves to brave the seas and islands,” added Austria.

Going digital

Aside from opening branches, Austria emphasized the innovation they are taking to further improve its services to its clients.

“We have invested in IT infrastructure for our core banking system so that a centralized system will take in place in the institution,” said Austria.

Among the recent digital innovations of CARD Bank today is the konek2CARD mobile application and its cardless cash machine. The konek2CARD allows clients of CARD Bank enjoy a hassle-free banking transaction anytime, anywhere using their smart phones.

“By using the konek2CARD app, our clients can check their account balance and transaction history, pay insurance and loans, and transfer funds,” said Austria adding that bills payment and buying prepaid load for mobile phones will soon be included.

Likewise, the cardless cash machine is the newest feature of konek2CARD that enables its users to generate Quick Response (QR) Code for the cardless cash machine.

“The code is used as an alternative in withdrawing savings even without using Matapat ATM card or bringing Pledge Savings account passbook to the bank,” said Austria.

Austria further emphasized that CARD Bank will continue to improve its products and services to become relevant to its clients nationwide. “We need to become relatable to our clients. Going digital may be the future of banking, but we will ensure and remain firm that our efforts will always be inclusive and pro-poor,” Austria concluded.

CARD Banks is a microfinance-oriented rural bank that operates nationwide serving more than 2.4 million clients with 99.19% repayment rate and PHP13.2 billion asset.