In pursuit of its mandate to support the country’s agriculture sector, the Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK), in partnership with the Department of Agriculture (DA), continues to provide affordable financial assistance to farmers and fishers, as well as their cooperatives and associations, to help increase their productivity and profitability.
Under the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF) Lending Program, the Bank has released a total of P2.5 billion in loans to 19,367 eligible borrowers as of June 30, 2020. Of the total borrowers, 19,189 are Small Farmers and Fishers (SFFs), 119 are micro and small enterprises (MSEs), and 59 are farmers and fisherfolk cooperatives/associations.
Direct lending under the ACEF Lending Program has been made available to eligible borrowers at an affordable interest rate of 2% per annum.
Individual farmers and fishers may use the loan under the Program for the purchase of farm inputs and equipment or for farm improvement. For MSEs, cooperatives and associations, the loan may be used for the acquisition of machineries, equipment and facilities for agri-based production and post-production, as well as processing.
Moreover, LANDBANK has released a total of P527.3 million in loans to 3,115 rice farmers and 22 cooperatives as of end-June 2020 under the Expanded Rice Credit Assistance under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ERCA-RCEF) Program.
The ERCA-RCEF Program was implemented to provide support to farmers following the implementation of the Republic Act No. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law. The Bank is one of the implementing agencies for the P1-billion RCEF allocation for credit, and mandated to make available P500 million in loans annually to rice farmers in 59 out of 80 rice-producing provinces covered by the Program from year 2019 to 2024.
Direct lending under the ERCA-RCEF Program has been made available to eligible borrowers at an affordable interest rate of 2% per annum. For on-lending, interest rate is at 0% per annum with prescribed pass-on rate to end-borrowers of up to 6% per annum.
Individual farmers may use the loan under the Program for the purchase of farm inputs for rice and rice seed production, and acquisition of farm machineries and equipment for production and post-production.
For cooperatives, the loan may be used for the purchase of farm inputs for rice and rice seed production as a collective operation, working capital for rice and rice seed trading operation and other rice farming-related activities, acquisition of machineries and equipment, relending to small rice farmers listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA), and rediscounting of existing loans of small rice farmers listed in the RSBSA.
“LANDBANK is continuously working with the Department of Agriculture to intensify our support to the agriculture sector. Through the ACEF and ERCA-RCEF Loan Programs, we aim to assist more farmers and fishers, as well as their cooperatives and associations, so they can boost their productivity and profitability, and contribute significantly in ensuring food security in the country especially with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” LANDBANK President and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo said.
2.48-M unbanked PhilSys registrants sign up for LANDBANK accounts
State-run Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) reports that a total of 2,481,788 unbanked Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) registrants have already signed up for LANDBANK transaction accounts as of April, 30 2021. This forms part of LANDBANK's partnership with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to co-locate during the PhilSys Step 2 registration and provide unbanked registrants with their own transaction accounts. Of the total 2,481,788 unbanked registrants, the Bank has already issued LANDBANK Agent Banking Cards (ABCs) to 850,875 of them—free-of-charge and without an initial deposit requirement—while the rest will receive their cards by July. Upon the invitation of National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua to co-locate with the PSA, LANDBANK aims to bank at least one household member of the estimated 18 million low-income households applying for the National ID and provide them access to basic banking services and emergency government subsidies. Previously, the PSA reported that 82% of the 10.52 million initial registrants do not have formal bank accounts. “LANDBANK is one with the National Government’s financial inclusion agenda. In partnership with the PSA, we are focused on opening accounts for up to eight million low-income, unbanked individuals from the 32 PhilSys priority provinces at the soonest time,” said LANDBANK President and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo. Unbanked PhilSys registrants can avail of LANDBANK transaction accounts once they have completed the second step of the registration, which covers the validation of supporting documents and capturing of biometrics information. LANDBANK ABCs are given to unbanked PhilSys registrants free-of-charge and with no initial deposit requirement through LANDBANK account opening booths at designated co-location areas. Cardholders can use the LANDBANK ABCs to cash-in, cash-out, and transfer funds at any LANDBANK Branch or Agent Banking Partner. They can also withdraw cash at Mastercard-accepting ATMs, perform cashless transactions, shop online, as well as receive government subsidy digitally. Soon, the LANDBANK ABCs can also be used as contactless cards to pay fares in public transport modes under the Automatic Fare Collection System (AFCS) project of the Department of Transportation (DOTr). LANDBANK is tapping personnel from its eight Branches Groups nationwide, as well as accredited cooperatives, associations, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and private entities as Agent Banking Partners, to assist in the account application and Know-Your-Customer (KYC) requirements at the registration sites. As of April 30, 2021, LANDBANK has co-located in 790 PhilSys Registration Centers in 10 regions, with additional centers in the pipeline as registrations continue to take place in 32 priority provinces nationwide. For more updates, please Follow, Like and Share the official LANDBANK Facebook, Instagram and YouTube accounts (@landbankofficial), Twitter (@LBP_Official), and join our Viber community (@LANDBANK), or visit the LANDBANK website (www.landbank.com).
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LANDBANK supports Agri-Agra Law amendments to expand loan access for farmers, fishers
The Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) fully supports the ongoing Senate initiative to amend the provisions of Republic Act. No. 10000, otherwise known as the Agri-Agra Reform Credit of 2009 (Agri-Agra Law), which will provide farmers and fishers nationwide an expanded and easier access to responsive agricultural financing. During a public hearing on the proposed Agri-Agra Law amendments on May 12, 2021, the state-owned Bank also welcomed recommendations from legislators to revisit its loan application requirements, specifically for small farmers and fishers, to make it easier for them to access financing. In 2019, prior to the ongoing Agri-Agra law revisit, LANDBANK started simplifying its loan processes to make the Bank’s programs more accessible to small farmers and fishers. First, the loan application form was condensed from three (3) documents to just one (1) document, and was reformatted with mostly tick boxes for easier completion. Second, the Promissory Note was significantly trimmed from 14 pages to only 1 page. LANDBANK has also consistently complied with the Agri-Agra Law, which requires all banking institutions to allot 15% of their total lending portfolio for agriculture loans and 10% for agrarian reform credit. As of December 2020, LANDBANK’s agriculture loans reached 76.95% and 11.52% for agrarian reform. Overall, LANDBANK’s agriculture lending has been consistently growing from P222.05 billion in 2018, to P236.31 billion in 2019, and P237.62 billion in 2020. Likewise, as of March 31, 2021, LANDBANK’s total loan portfolio to the agriculture sector also grew by 4.8% to P229.70 billion from P219.24 billion last February. The increase is primarily attributed to a 9.5% rise in loans released to small, medium and large enterprises. Of the P229.70 billion total outstanding loans, P36.27 billion benefitted small farmers and fishers, cooperatives and farmers’ associations, rural financial institutions and other conduits. In partnership with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), LANDBANK has also assisted cumulatively 2,696,839 farmers and fishers nationwide as of end-March 2021. This represents increases of 14,147 beneficiaries from February, and 25,990 for the first three months of the year. Just last month, LANDBANK also culminated its Online Stakeholder’s Consultation Forum towards addressing emerging challenges and issues faced by clients in accessing agricultural credit amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Forum facilitated knowledge sharing with key players in the agribusiness value chain to help the Bank further improve the accessibility of its lending products and services, especially under the new normal. Online survey and focus group discussions were conducted to gain insights and suggestions from farmers and fishers groups, agri-input suppliers, aggregators and traders, processors, and wholesalers and exporters. For more updates, please follow the official LANDBANK Facebook, Instagram and YouTube accounts (@landbankofficial), and Twitter (@LBP_Official); join our Viber community (@LANDBANK); or visit the LANDBANK website (www.landbank.com).
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LANDBANK unveils mobile savings account opening service
Clients can now successfully open a savings account with Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) using their mobile phone at their own safety and convenience without the need to go to a LANDBANK branch. The state-run Bank launched the Digital On-Boarding System Mobile or DOBS Mobile on May 12, 2021, which facilitates online savings account opening in as fast as 10 to 15 minutes without even having to visit any of its branches. Using the LANDBANK Mobile Banking App (MBA) available on Google Play Store or Apple App Store, interested clients need only to fill out application forms online and upload a valid identification card such as UMID, Passport, PRC ID, SSS, company ID or even school ID to open a digital LANDBANK ATM Savings Account. The LANDBANK DOBS Mobile eliminates the need to line up in branches to open an account, in support of the National Government’s Ease of Doing Business (EODB) initiative, as well as safety protocols amid the ongoing pandemic. “The DOBS Mobile underscores LANDBANK’s continued commitment to provide accessible, convenient, and safe digital solutions. Our digital banking initiatives remain centered on balancing service delivery while ensuring the health and safety of our clients which is of utmost priority,” said LANDBANK Branch Banking Sector Head, Executive Vice President Julio D. Climaco, Jr. The digital bank account opened using the LANDBANK DOBS Mobile offers features such as cardless withdrawal via the mobile app, and funds transfer and bills payment through both the MBA and the LANDBANK iAccess, among others. Clients can also upgrade the digital bank account to a regular LANDBANK Visa Debit Card by visiting their branch of account and requesting for a physical card anytime. LANDBANK as a trailblazer in digital banking Prior to the launch of the DOBS Mobile, LANDBANK introduced DOBS in December 2018 as the first online account opening portal among universal banks in the Philippines. This pioneering web application raked in various accolades for the Bank, such as the Merit Award for Technology Development by the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) Development Awards in 2020; “Asia’s Most Inclusive Bank” in the 2019 Financial Insights Innovation Awards; and the “Digital Trailblazer in Financial Services” award conferred by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). As of April 30, 2021, a total of 1.53 million accounts have already been opened through DOBS, which is accessible through LANDBANK’s official website (www.landbank.com) or through the Digital Corner of selected LANDBANK branches for walk-in clients. For more information about LANDBANK’s e-banking services, clients may follow the Bank’s official social media channels at @landbankofficial on Facebook and Instagram, @LBP_Official on Twitter, and @LANDBANK on Viber.
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