THE Land Bank of the Philippines has approved loans amounting to over half a billion pesos to several educational institutions to fund “study now, pay later” scheme for students.
As of February 16, the state-run bank said that it is set to bankroll P531.5-million worth of loans to 16 schools under a lending program it calls “Academe.” This amount is a quarter of the P3 billion pool launched in May last year.
LandBank said the facility can be availed by private high schools, private technical and vocational education training institutions, as well as higher education institutions such as colleges and universities.
The loan will be released via lump sum or on staggered basis per semester. It will be directly credited to the deposit account maintained by the school with the bank.
The loan carries a fixed interest rate of 3 percent per annum and is payable within three years.
In addition, LandBank expanded the coverage of its lending facility for students. The credit support now allows students to borrow up to P50,000 for purchase of gadgets such as laptop, desktop and tablet. This can be included in maximum loanable amount of P150,000 per student or P300,000 per parent-borrower to cover payment for tuition or enrolment-related fees.
“LandBank recognizes the need to support students in adapting to distance learning modalities,” LandBank President and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo said. “While we await the resumption of in-person classes, we hope that the program can help students cover the financial requirements to purchase needed learning equipment and participate in online classes.”
Students of legal age are also now allowed to apply for the said financial assistance should they meet eligibility requirements. Only parents and guardians of the students were eligible to tap the credit support when it was initially launched last year.
In addition, the lending window also increased the maximum age eligibility of students to 50 years old; and included the students with partial scholarship and non-scholar students from private educational institutions.
Expanding the credit facility was deemed necessary, LandBank said, as implementation of distance learning is seen to continue amid the lockdown protocols due to the pandemic.
The state-run bank saw its net income drop by 7 percent to P17.1 billion last year from P18.5 billion in 2019 amid the slowdown in economic activities.
Total assets as of end-December 2020 grew by 16.1 percent to P2.362 trillion from P2.033 trillion in 2019.
Capitalization, meanwhile, surged by 13 percent to P168.3 billion last year from 149 billion in 2019. Common Equity Tier ratio stood at 15.17 percent.