Philippine Post Office Offers Banking Services

Our friendly neighborhood "karteros"(postman)may soon turn into "bankers" as banking services will soon be added to its mail delivery operations.

Philippine Postal Corporation Chairman Cesar N.Sarino, in an interview with the Bohol media on Monday said that by next January, post offices nationwide will serve the banking needs of municipalities even as reforms are now set in place to regain the trust and confidence of the people in the postal system.

Sarino, concurrent president and chief executive officer of the Philippine Postal Savings Bank, Inc. said "By next week, will be submitting to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas all the documents for the approval of this ambitious plan."

Post offices will serve as extension banks of the Philippine Postal Savings Bank and will initially accept deposits and extend withdrawal services, according to Sarino.

"After three to four years all the 1,800 post offices will serve as bank extensions", a confident Sarino said.With 32 percent of municipalities that have no access to basic banking services, Sarino's bold program to convert existing postal offices into extension banks would provide banking facilities at relatively lower costs.

The plan to convert post offices performing quasi banking services will help boost local economies that are in dire need of the services of banks.

Sarino also bared an aggressive program to cash in on the more than P22 billion foreign remittances of Overseas Filipino Workers(OFWs)using the facilities of the Philippine Postal Savings Bank.

Fighting to remain relevant amidst the onslaught of newer modes of mail delivery, PhilPost has embarked on a slew of programs to stay competitive not only domestically but worldwide.

With only a year at the helm of the Philippine Postal Corporation and the Philippine Postal Savings Bank, Sarino grudgingly admitted that the poor quality of the postal service has eroded the trust and confidence of the public.

Sarino vowed to strictly implement the "zero pilferage" program under his watch while the fast and efficient delivery of mail is now under the watchful eyes of a private company hired to monitor and fast track every movement of mail from the post office to the recipient.