Banking and Bank Products Archives » Page 4 of 14

Individuals cannot invest in SDAs anymore

Effective January 1, 2014, retail investors (meaning, individuals) will not be allowed to invest in Special Deposit Accounts (SDA) anymore, according to a recent Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) memorandum.

BSP Memo number 2013-021 issued on May 20, 2013 restricted access to SDAs only to trust accounts and Unit Investment Trust Funds (UITFs). “Other fiduciary business including agency accounts and investment management activities (IMA) shall no longer have access to the said facility,” the memo explained.

ATM Withdrawal, Balance Inquiry Fees of Philippine banks

Do you know how much your bank is charging you whenever you use your automated teller machine (ATM) to make a withdrawal or balance inquiry in another bank’s ATM?

Be aware, because if you have no idea how much the fees are, they can eat up your total deposit balance.

BPI smartphone mobile app: iOS update problem?

When the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) became the very first local bank to launch a smartphone mobile app, I was elated because finally our banks are catching up with technology. With the growing number of smartphone users and increasing adoption of online banking among Filipinos, I knew banking via mobile app is the next way to go.

BPI Housing Loan – special rates promo

I’m currently browsing the web and talking to various bank managers to get more information necessary to update our 2011 article on Housing Loan interest rates in the Philippines. I want to come up with a comprehensive list of interest rates for housing loans in the Philippines for the year 2012.

Since I don’t have the complete information yet, I’ll just post what I got from each individual bank regarding their housing loan offerings. I was recently informed by a branch manager of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) that they are offering low interest rates in celebration of the bank’s 161st anniversary. Here are the details.

BDO to charge ATM withdrawal fee?

A lot of social media users on Facebook and Twitter were enraged yesterday after rumors surfaced that top Philippine bank Banco de Oro (BDO) will start charging PHP2.00 for every withdrawal made using BDO’s ATM terminals.

The commotion ensued after TV5’s Interaksyon website published a report saying that effective “September 1, it will cost a BDO ATM card holder P2” every time a withdrawal is made from any BDO terminal.

Standard Chartered may lose NY banking license due to Iran scandal

“You f*cking Americans. Who are you to tell us, the rest of the world, that we’re not going to deal with Iranians.”

That obscene statement was how a London executive of Standard Chartered bank allegedly replied to a warning issued by the head of its U.S. unit that the bank’s dealings with Iran could cause “catastrophic reputational damage” and “serious criminal liability.”

Citibank update: Francis Bryan Ang indicted for qualified theft

Here’s an update to one of the recent high-profile banking scandals in the country. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has found probable cause in the qualified theft case filed by Citibank against its former employee, Francis Bryan Ang, who supposedly ran away with more than P135 million of clients’ funds.

The DOJ has recommended the filing of 87 counts of qualified theft through falsification of commercial documents against Francis Bryan Ang, a former assistant vice president of Citibank’s Citigold Wealth Management Group and Relationship Manager of Citibank Binondo branch.

Millennium Bank, Rural Bank of Tagkawayan closed

Two separate rural banks in Cabanatuan City and Quezon Province were again ordered closed by the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) less than a month after a big commercial bank, ExportBank, declared a bank holiday due to liquidity problems.

On May 24, Millenium Bank of Cabanatuan City was ordered closed and placed under the receivership of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) by virtue of MB Resolution No. 817.

A few days earlier, on May 17, the BSP placed Quezon-based rural bank New Rural Bank of Tagkawayan, Inc. under the receivership of the PDIC by virtue of MB Resolution No. 772.