Hans B. Sicat (From his Twitter account)
Dutch financial giant ING is keeping the above-industry deposit rate of 4 percent per annum offered through its mobile consumer banking platform until end-July this year to encourage more people to embrace digital banking during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
ING is also donating €100,000 to support the country’s healthcare front-liners in this war against COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement, ING said the Luzon-wide ECQ had prompted many Filipinos to gradually shift to online banking, especially as movements of non-essential personnel and goods have been limited to control the spread of the pandemic for the sixth week now.
Transferring money, monitoring finances and managing funds are now increasingly done from the safety of people’s homes. Some people who were previously averse to electronic banking channels have begun to migrate to digital channels as well given the ECQ restrictions.
ING Philippines senior economist Nicholas Mapa said the Philippine economy may contract by -0.1 percent this year if the lockdown remains in place by May. This means that major economic drivers like consumer spending, overseas Filipino remittances and local trade and tourism are slowly declining, ultimately affecting the way people manage their finances.
“In many ways, we now see that Filipinos have a higher awareness of the need to build their savings and keep an emergency fund. As an all-digital bank, we want to continue being our customers’ partner towards financial security. That is why we have decided to keep the ING savings interest rate at 4 percent per annum.
This way, we hope to give our customers the assurance that their money will continue to grow with ING as their sustained savings or for any emergency needs,” ING Philippines country manager Hans Sicat said.
The 4 percent interest rate per annum covers deposits with balance of up to P10 million.
“Our mobile app continues to be accessible 24/7 in our promise to provide simple, easy and convenient banking services to Filipinos. We know that managing your money digitally is highly necessary at this time, so it is important for us to maintain our no-fees policy when customers transfer funds from ING to other local banks,” Sicat added.
ING Bank – together with its global processing and support center ING Business Shared Services, Manila – pooled €100,000 to donate to several healthcare and non-governmental organizations in response to the current state of public health emergency. It is also supporting United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)’s donation drive to provide aid to the local healthcare sector in the Philippines.
“We remain hopeful that things will get better soon and we will continue to support all our clients and the local communities as we power through this challenging time together,” Sicat said.