Residents now have the option to pay their water bills through Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).
Pilot transaction at DBP Cagayan de Oro main office ATM for COWD concessionaire Gwen Batar as VP Gerald Crisologo, Head of the DBP Cards & ATM Dept. looks on. (photo by Mike Baños, NPN)
DBP and the Cagayan de Oro City Water District (COWD) signed a memorandum of agreement 29 January 2015 which allows concessionaires to remit their payments using the DBP ATM Visa Debit Card through 377 DBP ATMs nationwide.
Mr. Buenaventura said the MOA is the first ever that DBP would be having with a water district for the Bills Payment Facility via DBP’s electronic channels, initially with the Point of Sale (POS) terminals, now the ATM machine and eventually, online via the internet.
DBP-COWD MOA signing of Bills Payment Facility: Officials of the Development Bank of the Philippines and the Cagayan de Oro City Water District sign a Memorandum of Agreement on the first ever Bills Payment Facility allowing COWD concessionaires to pay their water bills through using the DBP ATM Visa Debit Card through 377 DBP ATMs nationwide. (L-R) EVP Anthony T. Robles and Pres..& CEO Gil A. Buenaventure, DBP and GM Rachel Beja and Board Chairman Emmanuel Gaabucayan, COWD. (photo by Mike Baños, NPN)
The MOA is the first of its kind throughout the country. Signatories for DBP were Gil A. Buenaventura, president & CEO and Anthony T. Robles, executive vice president, Head, Branch
“We at DBP are honored with this opportunity to serve as the servicing bank for your most important transaction, that of your customers paying their bills, because by doing this, we help you and other water districts and electric cooperatives not just in ensuring a more efficient means of facilitating payments and therefore, in our revenue generation, but most importantly, we provide the convenience and ease for your customers.”
Pres & CEO Gil A. Buenavantura, DBP. (photo by Mike Baños, NPN)
Mr. Buenaventura said it’s ironic how consumers in Metro Manila already have a surfeit of choices to pay their water and electric utility bills while those in the regions who are served by electric cooperatives and water districts still pay their bills over the counter with all its inherent issues.
“We have taken it as our mission to streamline and make more efficient your bills payments,” the bank executive said. “My hope is that more water districts will follow this trailblazing path by COWD, and allow us to use your name as a testimonial to other water districts that we serve, so they can follow your example.”
At present, COWD’s approximately 84,500 concessionaires can pay their bills through 4 COWD centers in Corrales Avenue, Kauswagan, Macasandig and Tin-ao, or via 13 accredited collection banks. Those paying in the COWD head office in Corrales Avenue have the added option of paying through 4 POS terminals which accept payments via ATM cards and Visa credit cards. Similar POS terminals will be installed in the 3 other COWD payment centers within the year.
With the signing of the MOA, COWD water bills can now be paid using the DBP ATM Visa Debit Card through 8 DBP ATMs with 2 more scheduled for activation this February, including one at COWD’s main office in Corrales Avenue.
Three of the ATMs are located in the DBP main branch in Corrales Avenue, one each in DBP Capistrano branch and off-site at the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC), Pelaez Sports Center, one each in the arrival and departure passenger lounges of the Laguindingan Airport at Laguindingan, Misamis Oriental.
EVP Anthony T. Robles, DBP. (photo by Mike Baños, NPN)
Mr. Robles said DBP has issued some 25,000 DBP ATM Visa Debit Cards in Cagayan de Oro whose owners can now avail of the DBP Bills Payment Facility to pay their water bills with COWD.
Following the launching program, a pilot transaction was conducted in the ATM machine of DBP Cagayan de Oro main branch led by Gerald S. Crisologo, DBP vice president and head, Cards & ATM Department and Engr. Bienvenido Batar, Jr., COWD assistant general manager.
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