Banks are probably the most important financial institutions that we regularly deal with. Besides having savings through cash deposits, banks also enable us to do other transactions such as money transfer, bills payment, and loans. Many workers also receive their salaries through bank-issued automated teller machine cards, as this is believed to be more secure and hassle-free.
According to the National Baseline Survey on Financial Inclusion conducted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in 2014, 43.2 percent of Filipino adults have savings either in banks or cooperatives. Out of this number, 32.7-percent deposit their money in banks. Same survey also showed that two percent of Filipino households have credit cards.
Based on BSP’s 2014 Consumer Finance Survey, only two out of 10 Filipino households have savings in banks. Eighty-six percent of Filipinos have no bank deposits for several reasons such as not having enough money to deposit and lack of trust in banks.
In traditional banking, one goes through long queues and transacts by the counters manned by tellers. While this system is still in place, the emergence of modern banking technologies such as ATM deposit and withdrawal machines, online banking (through a website), mobile banking (through a mobile app), and phone banking have made bank transactions faster, easier, and more convenient.
We expect that new technologies would make our bank deposits and other transactions more secure. However, there have been recent reports on technical glitches and fraud issues involving two of the country’s top banking companies, which alarmed many Filipinos who have entrusted their money to these banks.
On the night of June 6, many irate clients flooded the social media accounts of the Ayala-led Bank of Philippine Islands, claiming losing up to thousands of pesos from their savings accounts, while some have gained more than their actual balance. The online accounts, through the mobile app and website, were also inaccessible. The following day, BPI notified its clients about an internal data processing error, wherein transactions between April 27 to May 2 had been double-posted, resulting in the change in the balance of their clients’ accounts. Thus, BPI temporarily suspended access to all electronic channels while they fixed the system glitch.
More than a week later, the Sy-led Banco de Oro advised its customers to report unauthorized transactions in their accounts. It had received reports of alleged ATM fraud. It was later found out that the compromised ATMs were caused by a localized card skimming hack. Cloning devices were installed by criminal foreign syndicates at selected BDO ATM terminals, which captured the identity and account information of the customers who used the said terminals.
Such events are unfortunate, most especially for people who do not have much money but still choose to save them through banks, with the hopes of either earning interest or simply keeping their money secure. These banking glitches, whether due to a system error or fraud, are really alarming and should not be set aside. With all that are happening, instead of being at ease that our money is safe, we only end up worrying. Something must be done.
The Senate is already probing the said incidents. And while they are at it, I also call on BDO, BPI, and all the other banks to improve their services, most especially in terms of the safety and security of their clients. Regardless of the amount each depositor has, everyone should be given equal importance, because the true and top priority here is everyone’s security.