BPI online channel cuts transaction time to 5 minutes

MANILA, Philippines -  Between 15 to 45 minutes is the usual bank transaction time spent inside a branch, but for clients of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) this can now be reduced to just three to five minutes with BPI Express Assist Online, or BEA Online.

BEA Online – an extension of the bank’s widely used online transaction platform, BPI Express Online (bpiexpressonline.com) – is a branch transaction appointment system that allows a client to virtually queue his transaction and choose a preferred time and branch to complete it. It is the first of its kind in the banking industry.

BPI has seen eight out of 10 clients actively use electronic channels (automated teller machine or ATM, phone, online, mobile) for their banking transactions.

BEA Online bridges the traditional branch channel and the electronic channel, giving the client the ease of electronic banking at the same time allowing him to still experience the human interaction at the branch that most Filipinos are accustomed to.

BPI executive vice president and head of Retail Segments and Channels Group Natividad N. Alejo said that BEA Online enables clients to reduce their waiting time at the branch, giving them the choice when to go to the branch in order to fulfill the transaction.

“We have come up with this innovation in line with the bank’s objective of making transacting easy for our clients, at the same time improving customer traffic flow at the branches,” Alejo said.

A client logs in to his Express Online account, selects BEA Online, submits branch transaction details, books an appointment, and goes to the branch on the appointed date and time for the transaction.

There are no paper forms – the branch personnel would have received the transaction details in-advance, and all that’s needed is for the client to hand in the cash (for deposit transactions), receive it (withdrawals, check encashment) or transfer it (funds transfer) in order to complete the transaction.

BPI senior vice president and Electronic Channels Group Head Manuel Tagaza said that the universal bank of the Ayala Group has envisioned empowering Filipinos to take charge of their lifestyle by allowing them to put their banking time in perspective and providing them more personal time.

“BEA Online is a step in that direction,” Tagaza added.

BPI has been at the forefront of banking via electronic and alternative channels in the Philippines, with more than 80 percent of all transactions between the bank and its clients now happening outside the traditional branch network.

As of June 2014, the bank has increased the number of ATM and deposit machines available nationwide by 11 percent over the previous year.

Enrollment in its mobile banking grew by 109 percent in June this year versus the same month last year, while active users of the same services grew by 118 percent.

Alejo however stressed that foot traffic to branches continuous to grow single digits despite the increase in the use of its electronic channels.

The bank’s customer base currently stands at 6.8 million.