Posted on September 16, 2011 07:35:57 PM
AN INTER-BANK network provider has extended its service in a bid to help
small banks cut costs and focus on core activities, an official said on
Friday.
"We are now offering banks, particularly small banks, to avail of our
ATM (automated teller machine) switch outsourcing services," Bancnet,
Inc. Chairman Ricardo R. Chua told reporters at the sidelines of the
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)-Philippine Payments System-Real Time
Gross Settlement System (PhilPaSS) and Bancnet memorandum of agreement
signing at the central bank office in Manila.
Service provided by the ATM switch system, Mr. Chua said, will allow
small banks to focus on core businesses such as deposit-taking and lending.
"With the existing platform that we have, banks would not need to
purchase and install their own ATM switch anymore," he said, noting that
purchasing a switch costs about $1 million.
Asked on the cost of tapping into the switch service, Mr. Chua said
charges will be on a per transaction basis.
Four thrift banks have so far availed of the service, he said, adding
that the banks expect a 10-15% growth in the volume of transactions with
the new business.
Bancnet's monthly average volume of switched ATM transaction reaches
28.9 million.
"[Bancnet] expects settlement figures to balloon in the coming years as
Bancnet's expansion continues," Mr. Chua said.
Bancnet has 5,304 ATMs nationwide, with 77 members and 11.5 million card
holders. It processes almost 30 million transactions per month.
Meanwhile, the central bank and Bancnet have signed an agreement for the
use of PhilPaSS for immediate settlement of payments between member
banks, officials said on Friday.
"This move will result in a tremendous improvement in managing our
settlement risks," Mr Chua said in his speech at the same event
The central bank, for its part, said the agreement will lessen risks
related to meeting withdrawals.
"With Bancnet now part of PhilPass, we reduce potential settlement risks
that can come from the inability of member-banks to meet ATM
withdrawals," BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco, Jr. said in a separate
speech.
Inability to meet withdrawals, he noted, may threaten the stability of
financial markets.
With transactions in as short as five seconds, Mr. Tetangco said
"Bancnet can immediately know if there is a problem for instance, which
among the members has failed to settle its obligations on time."
PhilPass currently services 35 commercial banks, three specialized
government banks, 40 thrift banks, 30 rural banks and three BSP departments.
Mr. Tetangco said the system has an average of 4,500 daily transactions
worth P1.3 trillion from only 237 transactions valued at P100 billion in
2002.
PhilPass, which was set up in December 2002, is a system whereby both
processing and final settlement of fund transfer can take place in real
time in the demand deposit account maintained by the BSP. -- Ann
Rozainne R. Gregorio and Neil Jerome C. Morales
--
---------------------------------------------
CARLOS ANI - SEEDFINANCE Corporation - http://www.seedfinance.net
Email: carlosani@seedfinance.net
Landline Phones: +63495010127 and +63495762924
Cellphone: +639152919580
DEVJOBS - http://www.devjobsmail.com
PHILDEVFINANCE - http://phildevfinance.posterous.com
CONSULTING - http://www.carlosani.com
My News Clippings - http://www.myclipps.posterous.com
Family website: http://www.anifamily.net
------------------------------------------
