(left photo) LANDBANK Agent Banking Partner, Tynnes Giggles Boutique of Nueva Ecija Province, facilitates the account opening of unbanked Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) registrants in San Isidro, and offers other banking services in San Antonio (right photo).

SAN ANTONIO, Nueva Ecija – When his daughter entered college, solo parent Nelson Quilantang needed to start saving to cover tuition fees for her chosen four-year degree. But without a bank account, he had difficulty building an education fund for her.

Nelson’s worries were laid to rest when he learned that the Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) was facilitating the opening of LANDBANK accounts at the same registration center where he signed up for the Philippine National ID.

This is part of LANDBANK’s co-location strategy with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), wherein unbanked registrants who completed Step 2 of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) registration process are provided with their own LANDBANK transaction accounts free-of-charge and with no initial deposit requirement. 

To reach and service more PhilSys registrants, LANDBANK is tapping agent banking partners (ABPs) to facilitate account application and Know-Your-Customer (KYC) activities at PhilSys registration areas nationwide. 

Nelson was assisted at the PhilSys registration center by the staff of Tynnes Giggles Boutique—a general merchandising store and a LANDBANK ABP in Nueva Ecija—who helped him open an account and provide him his LANDBANK Prepaid Card on the same day. 

With the Prepaid Card, Nelson is now able to regularly cash-in a portion of his earnings via Tynnes Giggles Boutique at their nearby branch in San Antonio, and more importantly, grow his savings for his daughter’s education. He can also perform other transactions such as cash-out, fund transfers, bills payments, and balance inquiries.

“Salamat sa LANDBANK dahil mas madali na akong nakaka-ipon ngayon. Malaking ginhawa din ang Tynnes Giggles Boutique dahil hindi ko na kailangan pang bumiyahe ng malayo,” said Quilantang.

Advancing financial inclusion through ABPs

LANDBANK ABPs play a major role in onboarding unbanked PhilSys registrants in the country. Of the total 8.1 million registrants who have signed up for LANDBANK transaction accounts nationwide, 3.5 million were serviced by ABPs as of end-May 2022.   

Of the total 404,778 onboarded registrants in Nueva Ecija, 280,848 or 69% of the unbanked PhilSys registrants opened their accounts through LANDBANK’s eight ABPs in the province.

Of this number, Tynnes Giggles Boutique onboarded 102,697 PhilSys registrants from the Municipalities of Cabiao, Jaen, San Antonio, San Isidro, Gabaldon, Santo Domingo, Talavera, and the City of Palayan. 

Boutique store owner Cristina Lejano travelled with her team around the province to facilitate account opening activities in PhilSys registration centers at the height of the pandemic—reaching as far as Gabaldon, which took almost 3 hours by land from their main office in San Antonio. 

“More than the additional income, I applied as a LANDBANK Agent Banking Partner in order to serve our community. Having few financial institutions in our town, it was difficult for locals to conveniently access banking services. Our store is helping to bridge this gap,” said Lejano. 

The Tynnes Giggles Boutique was officially accredited by LANDBANK as a full-suite ABP in 2020, after its staff completed the required trainings and complied with the requirements of the Bank. 

Under its Agent Banking Program, LANDBANK initiates partnerships with client cooperatives, associations, rural banks, local government units (LGUs), micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and private entities to help provide basic banking services to areas with limited or no Bank presence.