The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) announced that it will start servicing claims for insured deposits in the closed Bankwise, Inc. tomorrow afternoon, Wednesday, February 13, in the Bank's Head Office and all of its branches.

PDIC Officer-in-Charge and Executive Vice President Cristina Q. Orbeta said that the state deposit insurer is conducting the payout operations five (5) days from PDIC's takeover of Bankwise on February 8. "We aim to conduct a swift payout of claims for insured deposits in Bankwise in keeping with our commitment to protect the interests of depositors by providing them immediate access to their insured deposits."

PDIC started distributing claim forms to depositors today. Depositors may proceed directly to the Bankwise branch or head office where they maintained their deposit accounts. They should present to PDIC representatives original documents evidencing their deposits such as savings passbook, certificates of time deposit; bank statements (including unused checks); and two (2) valid identification documents (IDs) with the depositor's signature.

A six-unit bank based in Makati City, the bank's head office is located at the 5/F Crown Prince Court Bldg., 828 A. Arnaiz Avenue, Brgy. San Lorenzo, Makati City. Its five branches are located in the cities of Mandaluyong, Las Piñas, Cebu, Davao, and Quezon.

Latest records showed that the bank's estimated total deposit liabilities totaled to 5,840 accounts amounting to P1.456 billion as of February 8, 2008. Total insured deposit amount is estimated at P404 million, about 27.8% of the estimated total deposit liabilities.

Bankwise was taken over by PDIC on February 8, 2008 by virtue of Monetary Board (MB) Resolution No. 157 dated February 7, 2008 that ordered the closure of the bank. The last day for filing claims or prescriptive date is on February 8, 2010. Under Republic Act 9302 that amended the PDIC Charter effective August 12, 2004, the maximum deposit insurance coverage is now P250,000 per depositor.