THIS WRITER empathizes with the aggrieved victims of bank closures. Way back in the 1970s when I was young with money deposited in Continental Bank (beside Muῆoz Market, Quezon City), that bank went under receivership. It took me months before I could claim my money from the Philippine Deposits Insurance Corp. (PDIC).
I wish it would not be so hard for the depositors of the Bangko Buena Consolidated Inc., which was recently closed by the Monetary Board (MB) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. It has eight branches serving 9,845 deposit accounts with total deposits amounting to P271.8 million, 90.5 percent of which are PDIC-insured.
Bangko Buena has its head office in Iloilo City and branches in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental; Barotac Nuevo and Lambunao, Iloilo; Buenavista, Guimaras; Culasi and Pandan, Antique; and Dao, Capiz.
A PDIC lady officer spoke on radio station DzRH yesterday promising to pay all depositors with deposit claims of P500,000 or less. Those with balances of P100,000 or less – blessed are they – would be paid first without having to file deposit insurance claims.
“What about depositors with bigger than P500,000?” the radio anchorman asked.
The lady answered, “They will be paid an initial amount of P500,000. The uninsured balance will also be paid if and when the bank’s properties are sold.”
Otherwise, sori na lang? Sori na lang also for hungry or sick depositors in dire need of money. Pray you will still be around when your money pops up.
So many rural banks have closed that more and more depositors have transferred their accounts to bigger commercial and savings banks. This is no doubt the safest way and most convenient for businessmen who could not operate outside of the banking system. But for the small income earners who save in the bank to earn interest, it’s a losing proposition vis-à-vis inflation because an ordinary savings account would earn only 0.75 or a fraction of one percent per annum, which – adding insult to injury – is taxable. Accounts that fall below the bank’s required minimum deposit gradually “melt” due to penalty imposed.
Why expect higher interest when some big banks have merged – Banco de Oro, Equitable and PCI, for example – in effect becoming an oligopoly?
I recall that the banks in the late 1960s and early 1970s accepted one-peso deposits. While there were fewer banks, they competed for more depositors by offering higher interest rates, which averaged five percent per annum, tax free.
Back to the present, the World Bank (WB) has admitted the “dismal failure” of Philippine banks to attract depositors. Based on figures culled from all banks nationwide, only 10 million Filipinos, or 10 percent of the Philippine population, have bank accounts.
Indeed, the more fortunate among us prefer other alternatives of “growing” money. It’s much better to engage in buy-and-sell, in a small sari-sari store or in lending to friends and neighbors. It is not uncommon to see somebody stocking his refrigerator or freezer with soft drinks, ice or ice candy for sale.
According to BSP survey supervisor Nataliya Mylenko, among the non-depositors are those earning P50,000 a month. Why? Is it because they could not make both ends meet?
Not so. Methinks it’s distrust that repels them from keeping money in the bank. A case in point is that of a retired Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) employee, Bernardita Lerio, who tried to withdraw from her ATM account at the Landbank (Plaza Libertad branch, Iloilo City), only to discover that her balance of P26,000 had mysteriously disappeared. (hvego31@gmail.com/PN)
