Center Bank of Alabang president arrested
February 1, 2010
The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) recently reported that the former president of a closed Legacy affiliate bank was arrested last week.
Romualdo Lugtu, former president of The Center Rural Bank in Alabang and former director and vice president for loans and credit of Banco Paranaque, was arrested on Thursday, January 28.
BSP closes 9 more rural banks
January 4, 2010
Nine more rural banks in the Philippines were closed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) before the year 2009 ended.
As per the announcement of the BSP’s Monetary Board, the following rural banks were prohibited from doing business in the Philippines and its assets and affairs placed under receivership pursuant to Section 30 of R.A. No. 7653.
PBCom bank branch flooded, clients lost valuables?
October 27, 2009
A PMT Forum member posted that a branch of the Philippine Bank of Communications (PBCom) in Binondo, Manila got flooded due to typhoon Ondoy.
As a result, many of the valuables entrusted by clients in PBCom’s safety deposit boxes (SDB) were allegedly submerged and damaged. The bank is supposedly waiving any liability, claiming that this was caused by “an act of God.”
How to open a bank account in the Philippines
October 19, 2009
We’ve been constantly receiving questions from our readers regarding opening a bank account in the Philippines. Some questions frequently asked include:
- What are the requirements to open a bank account?
- What IDs are needed?
- Can a foreigner open a bank account in the Philippines?
- How can an OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker) open an account if he/she is not in the Philippines?
We answer these questions in this article.
Unionbank (UBP)’s Tier 2 notes
October 2, 2009
The Unionbank of the Philippines (UBP) will be issuing P5 billion worth of unsecured, subordinated Tier 2 notes with a 7.375% net interest rate per annum.
The offer date is up to Tuesday, October 6, 2009 and the issue date is on October 14, 2009.
The company said proceeds from the notes will be used in the expansion of its consumer loans portfolio.
What is a Tier 2 Note?
Closed: Philippine Farmer’s Bank
September 25, 2009
Another bank bites the dust.
Following the recent closures of rural banks in the Philippines particularly that of the Legacy Group, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines) on September 17 again placed one rural bank under receivership.
Effective September 18, the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) will take over The Philippine Farmer’s Bank.
Reverse PIN: BPI ATM’s security measure?
September 22, 2009
Have you received this one before?
There’s an email currently circulating claiming that BPI ATMs have the capability to call the police if you were being held up and forced to withdraw money from your ATM account and you punched in your Personal Identification Number (PIN) in reverse.
True or not?
BPI Trade: Problem with missing stocks
September 17, 2009
Here I go ranting about BPI (Bank of the Philippine Islands) again.
In October 2007, I wrote about the problems of some clients regarding an ATM that supposedly did not dispense cash and a branch manager who allegedly stole someone’s remittance money.
In October 2008, I ranted about not getting connected to BPI’s Phone Banking hotline after several tries in my attempt to solve my BPI Trade password problem. I wondered then if BPI’s call center was terribly undermanned or simply manned by lazy employees.
Now, I’m beginning to have these thoughts again since no one from BPI has solved my new BPI Trade account problem for more than a month now.
DEADBOL! Still not paid by the PDIC
June 6, 2009
Deadbol. Street slang for something that is dead.
That seems to describe the status of refunds owed to thousands of depositors of the failed rural banks under the Legacy Group.
Almost six months after Legacy banks closed and declared bank holiday, majority of depositors are still not paid by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC).
Citibank’s 4.75% Savings & Time Deposit account
June 4, 2009
Here’s another safe and relatively high-yielding instrument to place your money in. Well, it’s not really “high-yielding” compared to returns of stocks, but compared to other savings or time deposit accounts in the market, this one has one of the highest interest rates.





