RCBC’s digital platforms provide accessible banking services to Odette-hit provinces

As the period of recovery begins for the six regions placed under State of Calamity due to Super Typhoon Odette, Yuchengco-led Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) continues to aid the affected provinces by giving them access to fast and reliable financial services via ATM Go. 

RCBC’s ATM Go, the country’s first neighborhood ATM that has the most extensive reach among geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs), has deployed 236 active mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) terminals to 25 provinces in the six regions recently devastated by the super typhoon. For almost two weeks now, the affected municipalities have been enduring the aftermath of Odette such as shortages in food and water, and lack of access to basic services including money remittance and other financial services. 

“In times of disaster, RCBC’s digital finance services like ATM Go serve as a reliable partner of our fellowmen in receiving financial aid and support from various sources. ATM Go and its services is our contribution to the rebuilding and recovery efforts of the affected provinces,” said Lito Villanueva, RCBC’s Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer.   

Three days after Odette slammed the 25 provinces and municipalities in MIMAROPA, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao and CARAGA, ATM Go terminals were immediately reactivated, and displaced families may now receive financial support and aid from their loved ones and other organizations in other parts of the country via the platform’s fund transfer and regular ATM services. Cardless withdrawals via other RCBC mobile apps such as RCBC Digital and DiskarTech can also be initiated through ATM Go. 

ATM Go also remains as one of the most used platforms for government disbursements, servicing even the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps beneficiaries, among others. It has partner rural banks, microfinance institutions, cooperatives, retail stores and other establishments in 77 out of 81 provinces in the Philippines, servicing the largely untapped segment of customers living far-flung and mostly at the inaccessible regions.

In 2020, RCBC spearheaded the first large-scale disbursement of government aid to its beneficiaries through Ayuda Arangkada via the same payout mechanism. As of end-November 20201, RCBC was able to disburse Php 19.7-billion worth of financial aid from the government’s social amelioration program. Around 5.84 million low-income families or 29.2 million individuals have benefitted from the initiative.

“It is our commitment to continue supporting the government in all its initiatives and efforts that will lighten the burden carried by our fellow Filipinos in times of crisis and disaster. We in RCBC always believe in the spirit of bayanihan, and our way of giving that support is by making basic financial services more accessible to more Filipinos through our digital platforms,” said Eugene S. Acevedo, RCBC’s President and Chief Executive Officer.