Banking on consumers’ high regard to save money and avoid overspending, Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) has introduced its own version of prepaid card dubbed PSBank Prepaid MasterCard.
Bank First Vice President and head of Branch Banking Group Ismael Reyes, in a briefing Wednesday, said their prepaid card helps consumers against incurring debt as well as preventing anyone expect the owner to have full access on his/her entire savings.
He explained that anyone who wants to avail of the PSBank prepaid card does not need to have a credit check or existing bank account.
He said one just need to load a certain amount of money into the prepaid card to control the amount they spend.
“It’s a prepaid debit card you load with our own money and may be used to withdraw cash from ATMs, pay your bills, shop and dine at MasterCard-affiliated establishments, send money to your loved ones and shop online,” he said.
Reyes said their prepaid card enables consumers “to securely spend within their means while allocating their budget for their other financial needs.
He said they had a soft-launch for this product in October 2010 and they receive a positive feedback from their 21,000 existing card holders.
He said they will formally launch the card within this month and they expect students, overseas Filipino workers and their beneficiaries, those who cannot avail of credit cards to get their prepaid card as well as online shoppers.
PSBank will not earn much from this product, Reyes stressed since they only earn a small commission once consumers use the prepaid card in MasterCard-affiliated establishments.
Meanwhile, Reyes said they plan to open 20 branches more around the country this year to add in their existing 180 branches.
“We applied to open five branches within this quarter and three of these have been approved,” he added.
