The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) continues to devise ways to improve public service to depositors of closed banks. The latest among these is the adoption of the customized Postal Money Order (PMO) payment mode for depositors with account balances of P5,000 and below. With the PMO, depositors will receive their deposit insurance claim payments faster and more conveniently. The PMO may be encashed in any of the more than 1,400 post offices and more than 300 branches of the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) nationwide, reaching even the farthest barangays where some small depositors reside.

PDIC President Jose C. Nograles said that the adoption of the PMO as a payment mode is a milestone as the creative mode will cut delivery time of check payments by almost half. This payment mode was formalized by the signing of the memorandum of agreement between the PDIC represented by PDIC President Nograles and the Philippine Postal Corporation OIC Postmaster General Antonio de Guzman recently. “Serving the small savers is the paramount objective of PDIC and providing them convenient access to receive their payments is a step to enhance our public service, “ Nograles said.

The PMO mode is an improvement of PDIC’s current claims payment procedure of sending check payments through registered mail. Under this mode, payments shall be through checks drawn from an account in LBP as postal money order. The customized PMO is designed to address the increasing volume of insurance payments. PDIC is currently exploring other payment modes.

The PMO mode is in support of an earlier policy by PDIC to waive the requirement for personal filing of claim and submission of evidence of deposits for valid deposit accounts of P5,000 and below with complete addresses in bank records. Historical data showed that from 2008 to 2009 alone, almost 34% of total unfiled claims belong to depositors with deposit accounts amounting to P5,000 and below. Nograles said that the holders of these small accounts may be unwilling to leave their places of work and forego a day’s salary and spend for transportation to go to the bank or PDIC and file a small claim. With the customized PMO, they shall be receiving their deposit insurance payments faster.