The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) recently released the “State of Financial Inclusion in the Philippines” report which revealed that the number of deposit accounts in the country has increased by 6.8 percent to 57.1 million in 2017 from 53.5 million in 2016.

The report also noted that the BSP’s effort to grow banking offices nationwide resulted in an increased number of consumers becoming part of the formal financial system. This only shows that more and more Filipinos now are inclined to savings.

Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank), the thrift banking arm of the Metrobank Group, through its “Good to Know!” campaign, shares a few benefits of owning a deposit account:

Your money is safe and secure in banks. The obvious benefit of saving money in banks is that it eliminate the temptation of spending it. More importantly, the money you place in a bank account is safe and secure as all Philippine banks are closely monitored, supervised, and regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Your money in the bank is insured. All legitimate Philippine banks are members of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC). PDIC is a government agency created to protect depositors in the event a bank fails and can’t refund their customers’ money. If, for any reason, like rare cases where a bank closes, a bank is unable to reimburse its customers, the PDIC steps in, repaying each depositor up to PhP 500,000.

You can choose from various types of accounts according to your needs. Banks have many types of savings accounts depending on your need. One can open an account with a passbook, an ATM card, a checkbook or all three in a single account. There are also accounts for kids to help parents teach their children the value of saving at an early age.

Your money earns interests in banks. Everyone knows that the money one keeps at home will remain the same after a few years, while those deposited in banks will grow. Although this may be a given, people seem to always forget this simple fact. Savings accounts in banks earn from 0.10% to 1.56% interest per year. If you place your money in a fixed-term deposit, such as PSBank Time Deposit, you get to enjoy higher interest rates in as fast as 30 days for an initial placement of PhP 10,000 only. You could even get higher earnings when you place your money in investment instruments such as Money Market Funds. With PSBank Money Market Fund, you can start investing for a minimum of PhP 10,000 and you can grow your funds by adding to your account a minimum of PhP 5,000, anytime.

You can access your bank account and monitor your transactions anytime, anywhere. You can still go to your home branch to do your banking transactions, but these days, you can access your account whenever you need to and wherever you are. You may inquire your account balance and view transaction history using the bank’s ATMs here in the Philippines and abroad, or in the comfort of your home or office through their online or mobile banking facilities.

You can conveniently do other transactions anytime, anywhere. Banks offer other services that make life more convenient. These include paying bills, transferring funds, applying for loans online, among other things, using the bank’s electronic channel facilities.

PSBank made the transfer of funds between PSBank and other banks easier via InstaPay and PesoNet, which are available through PSBank Online or the PSBank Mobile app. PESONet and InstaPay, the two payment schemes under the National Retail Payment System (NRPS), allow seamless, secure and reliable electronic fund transfers and payments at a minimal cost.

“Good to know!” is PSBank’s public awareness campaign that provides financial education, relevant information, and helpful tips on how to manage, maximize, and protect your hard-earned savings and investments.

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