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RURAL
banks in 73 far-flung areas now have automated teller
machine (ATM} services provided by a private company
that plans to add 37 more places by October, all in
areas that previously don’t have ATMs or are far from
commercial banks.
Electronic Network Cash Tellers Inc. (Encash)
president Eric Severino on Wednesday said, “We’re not
competing against commercial banks; we’re providing
rural banks, retailers, to expanded access to [clients
and consumers] in far-flung areas.”
In partnership with rural banks and
resort owners, Encash brought and currently manages the
automated teller machines it has put up and those it
will put up in the future, which, all in all, was made
possible by a $3-million investment.
Rural folks with ATM cards can withdraw
or check the balance of their account with commercial
banks using the Bancnet or Megalink system.
While Encash can’t accept deposits
through their units, Severino said their machines offer
opportunities for rural banks to earn.
Every transaction using the Encash
machines charges the user P25, P35, or P55 relative to
the distance of rural folks to the nearest commercial
bank’s ATM.
Commercial banks don’t put up an ATM
units if the monthly transaction frequency is below
10,000 but Encash, according to executive Marga
Estebanlar, just needs to hit 3,000 transactions a month
for rural banks to see a return on their investment.
Encash sells the Diebold-branded ATM,
software, hardware and service to rural banks at a
minimum one-time investment of $2,000 (approximately
P90,000), according to Estebanlar. Recurring costs would
be on the wireless connection, electricity and security.
For every transaction, the rural bank or
Encash ATM operator would receive P5. The rest would go
to Encash and the commercial bank of the depositor.
Encash’s year-to-date transaction is nearly P500
million. Its average transaction per day in August was
at P2,000.
Encash is using wireless technology in
monitoring the ATM units from their headquarters in
Makati City. |
