The city government of Makati is set to distribute before the end of the year the Makatizen Card, a multi-purpose card that can be used by half a million residents and city hall employees for official, personal and financial transactions.
Mayor Abigail Binay announced this during a talk with local chief executives and members of the business sector at the 5th Regional Competitiveness Summit and Awards Ceremony at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.
She revealed that the cutting-edge program is being implemented in all barangays of Makati.”©
“To date, the registration of city government employees and eligible Makati-based national government workers is well underway. We have also started to roll out the Makatizen Universal Card System to the city’s 33 barangays, with the goal of registering around 300,000 residents by the end of the year,” Binay said.”©
The mayor presented the features, advantages, and benefits of Makati’s unified ID card to fellow mayors, vice mayors and key officials from 1,487 cities and municipalities from all over the country.”©
“The Makatizen Card project represents this year’s theme: Technology and Innovation is Key to Competitiveness. It is not only a financially inclusive ecosystem that creates a digitally connected citizenry, it also takes the government—including all its services and processes”•online,” she added.
The Card is a public private partnership project of Makati and G-Xchange and iBayad Online Ventures, Inc. It is a comprehensive universal card system that offers residents, students and city government employees expanded and improved access to government services.”©
The card allows recipients to receive cash allowances, stipends, and other cash benefits, including those provided under the Makati Health Program (Yellow Card), Senior Citizens program (Blu Card), PWD card and Solo Parent Card, among others.”©
“Aside from making day-to-day tasks much more convenient for Makatizens, the project also allows greater transparency in the implementation of the city’s various social welfare programs, thereby ensuring that the right people receive the right benefits in the most efficient way,” Binay explained.
The card can also be used to pay fees and taxes, personal remittances and other financial transactions. Its magnetic strip contains vital information about bearer: his address, gender, blood type, as well as emergency contact numbers.
The car is also equipped with Near-Field Communication, which will allow city offices equipped with iBayad machine readers to verify the identity of residents and employees with just a single tap.”©
Mayor Binay presented her actual Makatizen Card to the audience and shared that she had used it to pay for her water bill in the wee hours of the morning, without having to wait in line or wait for regular business hours.
She also noted that using the Makatizen Card as a payment option for city government employees will reduce the mountain of paperwork that accompanies doing the payroll.”©
Binay mentioned other notable digital PPP programs. The Fiber Optic Loop project, for one, will establish a public WiFi system providing free fiber optic WiFi connection to Makati residents.
The project is targeted for completion in 27 barangays, excluding the six villages, by the end of December this year.”©