News

Philippines ATM consortium grows 43.5% in 2011

February 9, 2012

BancNet, a Philippines-based ATM consortium consisting of banks and financial institutions, admitted 27 new banks and cooperatives in 2011, growing by 43.5 percent, said a news report in businessmirror.com.ph.

The past year’s increase marks a significant improvement over 2010, when membership grew by just 13.5 percent. The total BancNet member count is now 89, including two affiliate switch networks. The consortium comprises a network of 5,804 ATMs — 50 percent of all ATMs in the Philippines — and an ATM cardholder base of 12.36 million, or 37.4 percent of the market, said BancNet president Robert Blas.

“We continue to attract new members because of our wide range of services that our members and their customers enjoy,” Blas said. “One of these is the online payment system of Cebu Pacific, the Philippine Airlines, and Victory Liner bus tickets using ATM cards.”

BancNet processed a total of 363.3 million switched transactions in 2011, 10.52 percent more than in 2010. Daily transaction volume peaked last Dec. 15 with 2.28 million switched transactions, a new record according to BancNet executive vice president and chief operating officer Aris Zafra.

“Despite the heavy volume, BancNet maintained its host availability rate of 100 percent,” Zafra said. “We are committed to maintain this high standard even as our member banks, cardholders, and ATMs increase further this year. As a matter of fact, we are upgrading our switch system to the latest version this year.”

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