Financial Services for the Unbanked

Words by Presy Alba

In most rural areas, if you ask residents, especially women, to provide identification cards, many of them admit that they do not have one. Those who need identification for some compulsory reason get a postal ID which costs around PHP 500, way too expensive if your option is to use that PHP 500 to get an ID or buy 10 kilos of rice that could feed your family for several days.

No ID means that they could not open a bank account because it is one of the KYC (Know Your Clients) documents required by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas when opening a bank account. It is one of the main reasons that NWTF issue clients their first ID Cards as proof of identity. Using their Project Dungganon ID, clients can then apply for an ATM debit card from Dungganon Bank, a microfinance rural bank owned by NWTF.

With the Dungganon ATM debit card, instead of issuing the client a check for her loan, NWTF deposits the full amount into her ATM account, which she can then withdraw as needed.

This eliminates the need for her to encash her check in commercial banks that often charge encashment fees, or to rediscount the check at a local merchant who also charges a percentage of the check amount. In both cases, the client ends up carrying out a large amount of money, which she either spends right away or carries home.

With the Dungganon ATM debit card she has access to a wide array of technology-based financial services:

1. Automatic Teller Machines. Because Dungganon Bank is a member of BancNet, clients have access not only to the 21 DBI ATM machines strategically located in NWTF Project Dungganon branches where there are no other automatic teller machines in that town, but also to the wide network of ATMs of BancNet member banks.

2. Point of Sale (POS) Machines. Clients can also use their ATM debit cards to pay for products and services at establishments that accept debit card payments. This allows them to restock their sari-sari stores from big wholesalers without carrying large amounts of money. When they need cash, they can also withdraw money through the POS machines located in NWTF Project Dungganon branches if there are no ATMs nearby.

Cris, a Project Dungganon client, proudly showed her ATM Card saying, “ Even though I live in Silay, I always stop by the Talisay branch of Project Dungganon where there is a DBI ATM because I am so proud that we have our own ATM, and I can withdraw money any time day or night. I have also used my ATM card to pay for supplies in town even when I did not have cash.”

Giving clients access to ATM debit cards is part of NWTF’s financial inclusion strategy. It not only allows the unbanked access to mainstream banking services, it also protects them from exorbitant fees that opportunistic merchants charge to rediscount their checks.

As for the Dungganon Identification Cards, aside from giving the clients proof of identity that allows them to get a DBI ATM card, clients also use the Dungganon ID to avail of discounts from NWTF partner pharmacies and laboratories in their town.

Beneficiaries of Project Dungannon with their ATM debits card from Dungannon Bank.