THE Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) announced last Tuesday that all its digital channels will remain up and running throughout the observance of the Holy Week.
In a statement issued on March 26, LandBank said its clients can perform banking transactions during the four-day long weekend using the lender’s mobile banking application (MBA) and the bank’s online retail banking platform “iAccess.”
Other LandBank digital platforms will also remain available, including its Link.BizPortal for online payments, WeAccess for institutional clients and the electronic tax payment system (eTPS) for tax payments.
Fund transfers from and to LandBank and Overseas Filipino Bank (OFBank) accounts, regardless of amount, remain free of charge via the MBA and iAccess, the lender said. The bank also continues to waive fees for online fund transfers worth P1,000 and below to other banks via InstaPay and PESONet for the first three transactions in a day.
Meanwhile, in observance of the Holy Week, all LandBank branches nationwide will be closed from March 28 (Maundy Thursday) to March 31 (Easter Sunday), with operations resuming on Monday, 1 April 2024.
To service cash requirements, LandBank assures its clients of sufficient cash availability in all of the bank’s ATMs throughout the long weekend. As of February 2024, LandBank has a total of 3,101 ATMs, complemented by 3,095 ATMs in partner 7-11 convenience stores nationwide.
While prioritizing accessibility and convenience, LandBank is also reminding clients to stay vigilant against scams and security threats, by not clicking links from dubious sources and unknown senders.
The bank also encourages clients to remain cautious and proactive in safeguarding their username or log-in ID, password, OTP and other account information.
In a statement issued last Monday, the LandBank said it aims to reduce over-the-counter transactions in its branches by encouraging customers to maximize the lender’s digital banking channels.
The bank said it targets to onboard additional government agencies, local government units (LGUs), private merchants and other qualified institutions as billers in its digital channels, enabling more customers to make direct online payments.
LandBank is also poised to intensify its marketing efforts to encourage wider digitalization adoption among institutional clients. Digital solutions include the eMDS internet facility for national government partners, the LBCS electronic bulk disbursement facility and the weAccess corporate internet banking platform.
As part of LandBank’s phygital strategy, selected branches across the country will implement an automated queuing management system with a teller interface to further cut processing time for over-the-counter transactions. The next phase of this project will allow customers to set appointments via an online pre-booking facility before visiting the branch.
LandBank has been implementing since 2018 the Digital Onboarding System (DOBS), which has helped simplify the account enrolment process and reduced the account opening time of customers from 45 minutes to 15 minutes or less.
Starting April of this year, interested customers may also open a LandBank account without visiting a branch through the new straight-through account opening feature of the LandBank MBA. This will provide customers instant access to the bank’s digital services, such as fund transfers, bills payment, e-commerce transactions and cardless withdrawals.
For LandBank loan availers, the state-run bank will likewise introduce innovative online lending platforms that will cater to LGUs and micro-sized, small-scale and medium-sized enterprises.