The Land Bank of the Philippines and the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) have piloted the disbursement of crop insurance claims through prepaid cards to farmers whose crops were affected by calamities and disasters.
Land Bank said the first batch of seven farmer-beneficiaries from Ilocos Region received a combined P46,400 worth of initial indemnity claims credited through their prepaid cards last January 30.
“Through our partnership with PCIC, we aim to enhance the delivery of insurance claims and make our banking services more accessible to farmers. This forms part of Land Bank’s digital thrust of promoting financial inclusion to make banking more convenient for every Filipino,” Cecilia Borromeo, president and chief executive officer of the bank, said in a statement.
As of January 27, PCIC has requested Land Bank to produce a total of 52,236 prepaid cards for its farmer-beneficiaries.
Of that number, 34,847 prepaid cards have been released to PCIC, which will facilitate the card distribution to its farmer-beneficiaries.
Land Bank said it is ramping up card production for the remaining 17,389 as endorsed by PCIC.
Through the prepaid cards, farmers can conveniently withdraw cash from 2,997 Land Bank automatic teller machines (ATMs) in the country aside from another 2,323 ATMs at selected 7-Eleven convenience stores.
The prepaid cards can also be used to make cashless purchases via point-of-sale terminals in participating stores such as drugstores and groceries as well as transact with the bank’s 1,056 agent banking partners nationwide.
Under a memorandum of agreement signed last year, Land Bank targets to provide prepaid cards and facilitate the timely crediting of insurance proceeds to around 1.8 million PCIC beneficiaries.
PCIC is the government’s sole arm for providing agricultural insurance that ranges from insurance for rice, corn, high-value crops, livestock, fisheries and non-crop agricultural assets, apart from credit and life-term insurance.
