Banking Online Gains Momentum

By JENNIFER AMBANTA

Filipinos are beginning to see the advantages of doing bank transactions via the Internet as the number of those who do has been increasing, according to Bancnet, the country’s largest interbank network.

From fewer than 100 when the online service started in 2002, data from Bancnet showed, 251,234 people visited www.bancnetonline.com this December.

Bancnet online is the universal website of the network’s 89 members, some of which cannot afford to put up or maintain their own websites.

The number of people using the service increases by an average of 20,000 per month.

Of the December figures, 31 percent or 170,113 are new visitors while the remaining 69 percent are returning ones.

According to Rene Natividad, vice president and head for operations and networking of Bancnet, the online service cuts lines at its automated teller machines (ATMs).

"There was a time when people carry their bills and pay on the ATM, but that doesn’t happen now," Natividad said.

Bancnet started as an interbank network for ATMs. To date, it has in its network over 4,000 ATMs.

Since people can now pay their bills and transfer funds through the Internet, shorter lines are seen at ATM booths, Natividad said.

"This also shows that online banking (has been) getting more popular over the years," Natividad said.

He cited the December figure, which showed more than 2 million viewed the page.

Data also showed that each person stayed on the web page for five minutes on the average, performing several transactions such as bills payment and fund transfers.

Recently, Bancnet announced that it is providing ATM outsourcing as a service for its smaller members.

Six banks have availed of the outsourcing while 20 more are in the process of developing one.

Most of Bancnet’s member banks are small players, most of which cannot afford to spend at least P1 million for a single ATM.