MANILA -The Department of Budget and Management has teamed up with Land Bank of the Philippines in implementing the use of a digital charge or debit card for faster, cost-efficient government transactions.
The initiative, which will be implemented “at the soonest possible time,” follows and builds on the release of budget funds using online channels, regarding which the DBM also partnered with Landbank in December 2022.
Dubbed as the Government Purchase Card (GPC), which will be facilitated by Landbank and issued to authorized government functionaries, the card is intended to help simplify the process of purchasing of goods and services for government agencies.
Part of DBM’s efforts in pushing the government’s Digital Transformation program for the entire bureaucracy, the GPC is programmed with pre-assigned credit limits and merchant restrictions.
The card can be used to pay for government agencies’ immediate miscellaneous expenses without going through the time-consuming paperwork and requisition process.
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman described the use of the GPC as a milestone for cost savings and another step towards the achievement of bureaucratic efficiency and ease of doing business.
The GPC “will significantly reduce administrative costs by lessening cash and check handling and paperwork; simplifying reconciliation processes; shortening the requisition process; and promoting employee convenience,” Pangandaman said in a joint statement.
“The GPC will also enhance control by having a predefined credit limit feature, expense capture and monitoring, and a secure payment process, ” she added.
Landbank chief executive Lynette Ortiz said that — following similar partnerships with the Bureau of Treasury (BTr) and Department of Finance (DOF), the state-run bank expects that the DBM will also benefit from their cooperation with procurement lead time eliminated, quicker payments facilitated, and administrative costs for purchases lowered.
Ortiz said that from January to June 2023 alone, the Landbank GPC has facilitated for the BTr and the DOF a combined 998 transactions with a value of P5.1 million for various purchases and payments.
Among the GPC’s features are a 30-day revolving credit with full settlement on due date; access to point-of-sale and e-commerce transactions; global acceptance; email alerts for all GPC transactions regardless of amount; and electronic statements of account.