BAY, Laguna—As it closed its second decade, CARD Bank, the banking arm of the country’s top microlender, vowed to stay relevant by using modern technology to give the public, especially indigent Filipinos and those not served by the larger financial sector, easier access to financial services.
With the theme “20 Taong Paghahatid ng Makabuluhang Serbisyo Para sa Bawat Pamilya” (20 years of bringing meaningful services to each family), CARD Bank celebrated its two decades in serving the unserved and underserved families in the country at the CARD-MRI Development Institute, Inc. Bay Campus in Barangay Tranca here.
“As we continue to grow and expand, we ensure that CARD Bank is on par with modern banking technology,” CARD Bank senior management adviser Dr. Dolores Torres said. “We continue to improve our products and services aligned with the changing needs of our members and clients.”
CARD Bank takes pride in being the first in the Philippine microfinance industry to use a core banking system. “We are breaking the traditional banking operations and re-engineered our technology to core banking system to deliver better and stronger result of our services,” CARD MRI managing director Flordeliza L. Sarmiento said.
CARD Bank recently launched the Konek2CARD, a mobile application where users can monitor their CARD Bank Matapat ATM card, make transactions like balance inquiry and fund transfer, and view their transaction history.
“As we ensure to make our mobile banking effective, Konek2CARD is still being developed to provide more services like paying bills, loan payment, mobile remittances and many more,” Marivic Austria, CARD Bank Inc. president and CEO, said.
In a message by Abraham Lorenzo from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Supervision and Examination Sector, the BSP seeks to raise the number of electronic transactions from the current 1 percent to 20 percent by 2020 through the National Retail Payment System, a policy and regulatory framework that aims to establish a safe, reliable, and affordable retail payment in the country.
Lorenzo commended CARD MRI as one of the forefronts in financial inclusion, stating: “With an innovative business model, CARD Bank is headed towards where the banking industry aims to achieve.”
CARD MRI Chairman Dr. Jaime Aristotle B. Alip affirmed that the future of banking is to go digital. “We would like to bring our members to the next level, so we encourage them to become active in mobile banking. We hope that by introducing Konek2CARD, we also produce digital entrepreneurs from our members,” he said.
CARD Bank also unveiled its remittance product, the CARD Sulit Padala.
“With the huge number of individuals working away from their family, we want to be part of their re-connection through their remittances,” said Austria.
CARD Sulit Padala clients can now send or receive their remittances in CARD Bank, CARD SME Bank and Rizal Bank branches. They may also receive their remittances from GCash outlets or Cebuana Lhuillier.
CARD Bank is a microfinance-oriented rural bank and a member institution of CARD Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI) serving more than 2.2 million families all over the country though its financial and non-financial services.
Recently, CARD Bank, with CARD SME Bank and Rizal Bank, received the Gold Hall of Fame Award for being an outstanding financial inclusion champion from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.