WHY MOST PINOYS DON'T HAVE BANK ACCOUNTS / 8 OUT
OF 10 NO BANK ACCTS
MANILA, APRIL 21, 2012 (ABS-CBN) by Jojo Malig - Poverty, bank
requirements discourage savings . Many in provinces still keep money in piggy
banks. Poor prefer to borrow from pawnshops, small lenders.
Poverty is the main reason why most Filipinos do not have bank savings, a
central bank official said Thursday.
Diwa Guinigundo, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) deputy governor for
Monetary Stability Sector, told radio dzMM that he was not surprised with the
results of a BSP survey showing that 8 in 10 people in the country don't have
bank accounts.
"Alam naman natin, ang ating bansa ay still developing, still an emerging
market," he said.
"Kaya marami pa rin sa ating mga kababayan ang mahihirap pa rin. Ito ang
dahilan kung bakit 20% lamang ng mga tao ang may bank deposit," he explained.
"Isa sa mga dahilan dito, wala silang sapat na salapi para ideposito sa
bangko," he said.
Guinigundo added that banks also have minimum balance requirement. "Kung
kulang iyung kanilang pera, eh hindi na sila pupunta pa sa bangko, only to be
turned down dahil kulang iyung kanilang ide-deposito."
He said some people also think that they may not need a bank account.
"Karamihan diyan, lalo na sa probinsiya, may mga parang piggy bank o kaya mga
[alkansyang] bumbong (made out of bamboo). Iyon ang ginagawa nilang lagayan ng
pera or kaya sa ilalim ng unan," he said.
"Pangatlo, sinasabi nila kapag pupunta sa bangko, kinakailangan, magbibihis
ka kaya't medyo natu-turn off sila kapag pupunta sa bangko," he added.
He said that instead of going to banks to borrow money, some people prefer
going to either pawn shops or small lending investors.
A challenge for the government, pivate sector
Guinigundo said the results of the survey should serve as a challange for
both the government and the private sector.
"Talagang ipromote natin ang isang klase ng ekonomiya na mas inclusive na
iyung mag mahihirap, may bahagi din," he said.
According to Guinigundo, the survey was the first of its kind that was
conducted by the BSP.
"Mayroon po tayong family income and expenditure survey na ginagawa ng NSO.
Ang problema noon, income lang at expenditure ang kanilang nako-cover," he said.
"Ang population natin, very young. We are a consumption-led economy. Mahilig
kumain, mahilig manood ng sine, iyon ang nakapagpapaikot ng ekonomiya natin.
"Kaya importanteng-importante, kailangang magkaroon tayo ng kaaalaman hinggil
sa atin poppulasyon, hindi lamang iyung kanilang kinikita at ginagastos kundi
pati kanilang yaman or kawalan ng kayamanan," Guinigundo added.
"Kapag nalaman natin ang mga bagay na ito, iyung mga karampatang patakaran at
polisiya ng pamahalaan at Bangko Sentral ay mai-aadjust natin ang sa ganoon,
maa-address natin ang mga problema nga ating mga kababayan."
Culture of saving money
He believes that Filipinos are inclined to save money.
"Kapag tinignan natin iyung findings, iyung resulta ng atin survey, kapag
tinanong mo ang isang tao, 'kapag ikaw mayroon kang sobrang pera anong gagawin
mo,' ang pumapasok kaagad sa kanila, iipunin niya," he said.
"Kapag ikaw mayroon ka nang naipon, saan mo ilalagay. Sinasabi nila bangko,
pero iyung aktuwal, hindi sila makakapagbangko dahil kulang pa rin iyung
kanilang pera para ideposito sa bangko," he stressed.
"Iyun hong kultura ng pag-iimpok, tingin ko, nandoon sa Pilipino. Ang
problema lang kinakailan pang higit pa tayong umunlad nang sa ganoon ay
maambunan din iyung ating mga kababayan na sana mas mababang antas, nang sila
rin ay magkaroon ng bahagi sa ating pagbabangko," he said.
He said the another survey should also be made in 4 years to see if
improvements have been achieved.
"Maganda ho nito, after 4 years, i-track down natin ang pag-unlad o kawalan
ng pag-unlad. Puwede natin pagkumparahan para makita natin kung may pagbabago,"
he said.
FROM RAPPLER ONLINE
Most Pinoy families have no bank accounts by
RAPPLER.COM Posted on 04/18/2012 5:59 PM | Updated 04/18/2012 7:33 PM
MANILA, Philippines [UPDATED] - Most Filipino families do not put money in
the bank.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) first Consumer Finance Survey showed
that 8 out of 10 Filipino households, or 78.5% of the total, do not have deposit
accounts.
Instead, they keep their money in "shadow banking" entities such as savings
and loan associations and the paluwagan, a Filipino tradition of pooling funds
in neighborhoods and offices, with members taking turns in receiving money.
"Among those with no deposit accounts, the main reason cited by 92.8% of
households was that they did not have enough money for bank deposits," said BSP
Assistant Governor Cyd Amador.
Other reasons include the lack of need for an account (1.7%), difficulty
managing an account (1.5%) and high minimum balance requirement (1.2%).
For those who maintain bank deposits, 6 out of 10 have interest-paying
accounts.
This means that a significant number of the accounts have "an average daily
balance below the required amount to earn interest or have earned a negligible
amount of interest," the survey showed.
The survey was conducted between November 2009 and January 2010 using 2008
expenditures data, and had a sample size of 10,520 households consisting of
3,872 households from the National Capital Region and 6,648 households outside
NCR.
Credit card, insurance
Because most Filipino households are still "unbanked," they have limited
access to credit cards and insurance plans.
Only 4% of households have credit cards, and of the number, majority or 63.6%
own only one card.
Moreover, the survey showed that only 3 in 10 household members are covered
by health insurance. About 93% of those covered are insured under state-run
Philippine Health Insurance Corp., while 4% are insured by private health
insurers.
In terms of pension or retirement plans, the BSP survey also found out that
42.7% of the respondents have at least one retirement or insurance plan from
either government or private companies.
House and other assets
The BSP said many Filipino families own their own homes, with 68.8% saying
it's their main asset. Most of them acquired their homes through cash payment or
inheritance.
About a quarter or 24.3% of the households have at least one vehicle, mainly
motorcycles (54.9%), then cars, SUVs and vans (32.2%).
Apart from a house, majority or almost 90% of Filipino households consider
their home appliances as their biggest asset.
More education
Amador said the BSP will work toward a more inclusive financial system that
will reach out to households that are out of the system.
She said it is also important to encourage households to use banks to protect
them from loan sharks that charge high interest rates.
"By way of education, we can do a lot in terms of inculcating financial
safety." - Rappler.com
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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