by Gideon C. Corgue
PAGADIAN CITY, Nove 22 (PIA) – In line with its vision of providing an efficient and better service to its members, the Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund Office in partnership with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) has launched its new electronic program nationwide dubbed “LandBank Instant Cash Card” (LCC) on November 14.
Pag-IBIG Fund housing loan and marketing division head Gregorio M. Luba Jr. said the program was designed to give convenience to its members by minimizing their long wait times in claiming their Multi-Purpose Loan at their office and also at the LBP.
Luba said the cash card is a debit card and also functions as ATM card and is accessible to any ATM nationwide affiliated with Expressnet, Megalink, and Bancnet member banks and POS accredited merchants.
The card has the following salient features: No opening deposit requirement; no maintaining balance; no specimen signature card; no interest; no dormancy period, aggregate monthly credits allowed is P100,000; card validity is active to 3 years; ATM limit of P50,000/a day; Point of Sale Limit of P20,000/ a day; no replacement fee; and reactivation fee is not required.
“It’s hassle free. Pag-IBIG members will no longer be anxious from waiting in the long queue at the time of their application and in withdrawing the loan proceeds at the bank,” Luba said saying that before, members had to wait for a couple of hours in applying loan and will experience the same inconvenience while encashing their checks.
Lubao said with the program, a member will only wait for 3-5 minutes in submitting the MPL application forms and subsequently, he will be issued cash card after his application will be approved. He will no longer go to the bank because the proceeds of his loan will be automatically deposited in his cash card.
Lubao said, 12,190 ICCs allocated for its members in the provinces of Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay and Misamis Occidental, the area of coverage of the Pagadian branch office.
Lubao said the ICCs were offered free to its members as part of Pag-IBIG fund’s special promo. “The issuance will be done on a first-come, first-served basis because the registered total number of Pag-IBIG members is almost 70,000, Lubao reported.”
Lubao said the cash card is just part of the 1 million generated by the LBP. “The distribution of cash cards is a dry run to measure the effectiveness of the program,” Lubao said.
Meanwhile, assistant branch manager Beder F. Morandarte, Jr. said the LCC is one of the agency’s programs implemented this year which aimed to provide better customer service and promote cost savings. “We are now moving towards paperless transactions,” Morandarte announced.
Morandarte encouraged Pag-IBIG Fund members to register now as the first 12,190 LCCs to be distributed to members here shall be free of charge.
Interested members must bring an original and photocopy of two (2) valid identification (ID) cards with photo to avoid delay in the card distribution.
Morandarte said Pag-IBIG Fund’s Marketing and Enforcement Division can be reached at telephone numbers (062) 2141695 or at mobile phone numbers 09086477451 and 09152265163. (ALT/GCC/PIA9-Pagadian)