In my previous article, I elaborated on how long lines at government institutions and public transportation have robbed us of valuable time, which ultimately translates to lost economic opportunities.
This holiday season, I realized that there should be another issue that I believe our banking sector should address: long lines at automatic teller machines (ATMs), especially during paydays.
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Let’s face it: despite the great leaps our digital financial platforms have made – accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic – the Philippines remains, basically, a cash-heavy society.
In fact, when the last vestiges of the pandemic restrictions were finally lifted in 2023 or thereabouts, we as a nation immediately reverted to the “old normal” of cash transactions.
This is partly because of the continuing issues regarding our digital money platforms, not to mention the rise of scams and hacking incidents.
I believe that there’s also a psychological factor attached to our penchant for cash.
Totoo, madaling mawala o manakaw ang perang papel (o polymer) at barya. Pero at least alam natin kung nanakaw o nawala ang pera. At pwede natin itong muling makita o mabawi kapag nahuli yung snatcher.
Di tulad ng pera sa online account na hindi natin namamalayan na nabawasan na pala o na-hack ang ating account hanggang sa tingnan na natin ang app. (Mas vulnerable pa nga tayo ngayon sa hacking, phishing at iba pang uri ng identity theft dahil sa artificial intelligence.)
At di tulad ng pisikal na pera na pwedeng mabawi, kaladasan ay next to impossible na mabawi ang pera na nanakaw sa ating online accounts.
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And this is where the long lines at ATMs come to play.
Take, for example, two adjoining banks at a busy commercial area here in San Pedro City.
One bank, in particular, had six ATMs before the pandemic – but that was reduced to just three when the branch’s office area was expanded during the pandemic.
The bank next to it was no better: its two ATMs were reduced to just one a few weeks ago. But wait, there’s more!
May mga pagkakataon na isa o dalawang ATM doon sa mas malaking bangko na bigla na lang nagluluko. Either ATM offline, o pang-balance inquiry lang.
Ang resulta: kailangan mong maghanap ng ATM ng ibang bangko, o di kaya ay sa mga convenience store na meron na ring ATM service.
Problema mo naman, may extra charge kapag debit card ng ibang bangko ang gagamitin: P2 kapag balance inquiry, P18 kapag magwi-withdraw ka ng pera.
Come on, P18 is already a lot in this economy! And sometimes, that P18 is what makes the difference between the life and death of your own bank account, especially if you have to maintain its balance!
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I’m pretty sure the reason why many banks nowadays have gradually decreased the number of their ATM cards is to encourage (read: force) their customers to switch to digital banking.
But with the deep-seated mistrust of the ordinary Filipino people to digital platforms, we tend to forget that it is still cash that makes our own little worlds go round. In my view, we as a nation is not yet ready – in terms of infrastructure, financial literacy or even the heart and mindset – to enter into a fully cashless or even cash-lite society.
And until banks realize that, we’ll continue to waste our time waiting just to get our hard-earned money every payday.
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