Getting started on maximizing your savings

MANILA, Philippines - In a time when people are leading very hectic lives, who has the spare time to go from one end of town to another to encash a check or make a withdrawal? In a time when natural disasters occur more often than expected, it’s good to be protected and secure your family’s future. The same goes for savings interest rates — you want to get the best rates and still be able to have control of your funds all the time.

This is what BPI’s two savings products are all about — Get Started and Maxi-Saver.

“Get Started comes with a free life insurance coverage equivalent to five times your savings account’s balance up to P2 million,” says BPI Personal Banking head Mita Gozar. “We see it as a very strong product because it’s unmatched by the competition. What other banks offer is a product bundle with accident insurance coverage, not life. With Get Started, you get coverage without having to pay premiums and without having to undergo medical examinations.”

With BPI Get Started. you are covered by up to P2 million by BPI-Philam Life (with terms and conditions applying to the coverage). A coverage of P2 million requires a P400,000 deposit. The age limit for Get Started is 70, an age beyond what regular insurance companies require, which is 60 to 65. “Older ones know they will be refused by the insurance company and they appreciate the insurance coverage that goes with Get Started.”

BPI Float Deposits head Ma. Carmina Marquez says BPI clients who have families, who are breadwinners make up the client base of Get Started, while Maxi-Saver appeals to those who are very interest rate-conscious and would like to have their money work harder for them.

Carmina says, “Maxi-Saver has the unique benefit of a high interest rate beyond regular savings. You can earn as much as 2.75 percent against your typical savings account.

Carmina explains that Maxi-Saver is a tiered savings account, so as your deposit balance goes higher, you get better rates. Per annum you can earn as much as 2.75 percent, which is at par with some banks’ time deposit interest rate, except Maxi-Saver gives you access to your funds anytime.

The tiers of Maxi-Saver start at P50,000 to P299,000, which earns the base rate of 1.375; for P300,000 to P499,000 the interest rate is 1.5 percent; for 500 to less than P1 million, it’s 1.625. If you don’t touch your funds for a month, you get a one percent bonus per annum. 

“It earns like a time deposit without having your funds locked up,” says Carmina.

Mita says high-value clients like to “rate shop” — they compare the rates offered by different banks before deciding which one to put their money in. “The outlook for this year is that interest rates for savings account will stay where they are now. When we did a re-pricing last year we saw that other banks had already lowered their interest rates, which puts Maxi-Saver depositors at an advantage.”

On top of all the advantages you get of being a depositor of these two savings products, BPI is giving away a stylish travel set as part of its Real Thrills promo. Every P150,000 new account or additional deposit automatically earns you the bag exclusively designed for BPI. The bag is not your usual corporate giveaway since the bank’s logo is discreetly tucked inside and not screaming loudly on the outside. Not surprisingly, some wealthy clients have infused fresh funds into their accounts to avail of the promo because they can get as many stylish travel sets they want based on their deposit. 

Mita points out that the BPI philosophy is geared towards making banking convenient and profitable for its customers. “For you to appreciate our service, you have to know the usual first, which is you can deposit at any branch but you have to be at your home branch if you withdraw or do a debit transaction because that’s where you are known and that’s where your records are.”

With BPI’s Bank Anywhere, that’s a thing of the past. “You can go to any of our branches and make a withdrawal or encash a check — even if you’re in Davao and your home branch is in Manila. Before, a branch would ‘accommodate’ a client if this wasn’t his home branch. They would ask a copy of your signature to be faxed so that you can make a withdrawal or encash a check. It was a time-consuming process and it wasn’t standard practice so banks didn’t ‘accommodate’ everybody. With Bank Anywhere, it’s now standard practice that you can make these transactions in branches out of your home branch — any amount, even if it’s over 100,000.”

And it’s not limited to withdrawal and encashment. You can also have a lost ATM replaced, request for a new checkbook, apply for a manager’s check, do a telegraphic transfer, exchange currency, request a bank statement or certification, replace a lost passbook, change address, and enroll in Express Phone.

“BPI checks deposited into a BPI account don’t go through clearing anymore — it’s as good as depositing cash,” Mita continues.      

Bank Anywhere is particularly useful to people who have very little time for banking. “For instance, you’re transferring homes. The least of your problems is transferring your accounts from your old branch to another one near your home. You expect a bank with many branches to be able to serve you wherever you are — that’s the spirit of Bank Anywhere.

Now you can bank in any of BPI’s 600 regular branches as if it were your home branch.

Sometimes, you don’t even have to be in any of BPI’s branches to do some transactions! BPI’s Express Online and Mobile Banking — choose your gadget, your laptop or your phone, or even the good, old telephone ? — “lets you practically do any transaction except get cash.”

“You have to be enrolled at BPI Express Online, which is fairly easy,” says Mita. “Just go to our website, click enroll, and you will receive step-by-step instructions. To authenticate that it’s really you that’s doing the enrollment, you’ll be asked to go to an ATM within 48 hours to activate your enrollment. That’s our way of checking that it’s really you who’s making the online enrollment.”

This is particularly useful when paying bills and making money transfers between BPI and BPI Family Bank. “I’m a heavy Express Online user, I hardly see the branch,” she continues. “I pay my bills, I load the cell phone of my son, I transfer funds. The last can be made online but not over the counter because if you’re a BPI client, the teller has access only to BPI accounts, not BPI Family Bank accounts.”

Some transactions can be done only in Express Online, like paying bills on schedule. “Like me, I have about 10 bills to pay every month and they have different due dates. I do them all in one sitting so I don’t have to worry that they get paid when they’re due.”

Then there’s BPI Direct, which is virtual bank. “It’s ideal for OFWs because they don’t need a branch. What we recommend is that they open an account here before they leave. It’s also ideal for employees of BPOs because they’re asleep during banking hours. At night, BPI Direct is still open because it’s just on their laptop,” says Mita. “For deposits, they can go to BPI branches.”

For those who are used to doing transactions on their cell phones, there’s BPI Express Mobile Mall, which allows you to buy movie tickets at Ayala Cinemas, so you don’t have to line up at the ticket counter.

Now that’s what convenient banking is all about.

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For more information, visit any BPI branch or log on to www.bpiexpressonline.com.