FINANCIAL INCLUSION. Land Bank of the Philippines president and chief executive officer Lynette Ortiz (right) interacts with farmer-participants during the “Bilis Ipon: Digital Financial Inclusion Caravan” in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental on Wednesday afternoon (July 31, 2024). The activity was held alongside the inauguration of the Landbank Himamaylan Branch beside the City Hall. (PNA photo by Nanette Guadalquiver)
BACOLOD CITY – State-owned Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) is delivering inclusive and accessible banking services to more Negrenses with the opening of its branch in Himamaylan City in Negros Occidental.
Data on Thursday showed it is expected to serve more than 6,000 farmers and fisherfolk, as well as 7,000 beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in the southern Negros city and neighboring Binalbagan town.
LBP president and chief executive officer Lynette Ortiz said they hope the branch would become a center of economic activity for Himamaylan as it addresses the banking and financial needs of their customers, which also include agribusinesses, cooperatives, micro, small and medium enterprises, countryside financial institutions, and other private partners.
“We are very happy to open our doors. Landbank is here to really serve. Our history, our provenance as a bank is really rooted in agriculture. We want our bank to be accessible, we want it to be convenient, we want it to be easy to deal with,” Ortiz said during the inauguration Wednesday afternoon.
Mayor Rogelio Raymund Tongson Jr. said for the people of Himamaylan, the event is not just an opening of a Landbank branch but a boost to their morale to finally host the city’s first-ever commercial bank.
“Before, they thought that it was impossible to have a commercial bank here,” he said.
The Landbank branch in Himamaylan, just beside the City Hall, was initially opened as a branch-lite unit in a rented space at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
It is now among the 16 branches and branch-lite units in Negros Occidental, along with the two lending centers, 70 automated teller machines and four cash deposit machines, and 49 LandBanKasama partners.
The inauguration was held alongside the launch of the bank’s “Bilis Ipon: Digital Financial Inclusion Caravan” attended by about 120 farmers.
Three enterprises in southern Negros – the Jemar Business Center, ROD & RG Sari-Sari Store, and SGC Convenience Store – were launched as LandBanKasama partners to extend essential banking services using the POS (point of sale) terminals turned over by the LandBank.
The PISO Plus basic deposit account, which requires no initial deposit or maintaining balance, was also introduced to participants without bank accounts. (PNA)
