Veterans Bank launches multi-functional ATM/ID card

MANILA, Philippines - As part of its business expansion plan for the remainder of the year 2013, local commercial banking player Philippines Veterans Bank (PVB) offers a new innovative and value-added service to its clientele called the VeteranTeller All-in-One ATM/ID card.

A first of its kind in the market today, the All-in-One ATM/ID card serves several functions – ATM card, debit card, company ID, as well as employees’ time-in/time-out card working in conjunction with PVB’s proprietary timekeeping kiosks and bio-metric systems (customized in-house by the bank’s product development group). As an additional security function, the VeteranTeller All-in-One ATM/ID card features a barcode that can be swiped at the timekeeping kiosk.

The VeteranTeller multi-functional card acts as a regular ATM card that can be used to perform various banking transactions like cash withdrawals, balance inquiries, and bills payments via BancNet, Megalink and ExpressNet. It also acts as a debit card that can be used to purchase goods or services from several retail establishments.

According to PVB’s VP for corporate communications Miguel Villa-Real: “This product has undergone several improvements since it was introduced. I would characterize it as a collaborative effort with our clients because we really went deep and tried to understand what they needed to make their operations more efficient. At PVB, we believe in growing with our clients. Their success is our success as well.”

First implemented in certain local governement clients of the bank as a test market, PVB sees expanding the target market to include other local government units as well as government-owned and -controlled companies (GOCCs). In the near future, the bank is looking into offering this specific product to cater to medium enterprise-sized clients as well.

“More and more clients in the private sector are availing of this product. Not only does it create efficiencies because of reduced costs in human resource and administrative work, but some of our early adaptor clients have said that the system also boosts productivity because of stricter monitoring and the reduction in ‘slack periods’. All these benefits just by maintaining an account with PVB,” Villa-Real added.

Veterans Bank is a private medium-sized commercial bank owned by over 400,000 Filipino World War II veterans and their families. The bank caters to both corporate and retail financial markets, and is also an authorized government depository. Recently, former Finance Secretary Roberto de Ocampo, OBE, was elected as the bank’s chairman.